


Iron-Strange - or how to fix the world and eachother

by Lionessinthedark



Series: The life of Doctor Strange [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 'Crown Jewels', M/M, Marvel Cinematic Universe AU, Mutual Pining, Pain is an old friend, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Rimming, Sex, Sex Toys, Stephen's past, Stephen's scars, Tailors, doctor Strange's scars, infinity war fix-it, pain and pleasure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-08-17 13:44:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16517609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lionessinthedark/pseuds/Lionessinthedark
Summary: The first chapter connects to my other story about Stephen Strange. The other story is still a WIP and this story will later be a part of it. Maybe even be continued. But it is the 4th of November and I promised to post something today.





	1. What happened on Titan and how to fix Thanos' mess

**Author's Note:**

> This is the last part of my story about Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange.  
> And as I wrote in the first part:  
> I began this story as I saw the first pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch in Nepal. An origin story mixing things from the comics ( Mostly 'Essential Dr Strange1') and things from the film. I never managed to finish it and then 'Infinity War' happened...and I had to fix it.  
> I have taken a lot from http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Doctor_Strange too.  
> And a bit from: http://marvel.com/universe/Doctor_Strange_(Stephen_Strange)#axzz5EhmWlCHM  
> But I have altered a lot too. I do not follow the canon in Marvel's Doctor Strange universe. Who or what Vishanti and Agamotto...and Eternity are. I have altered that.  
> And the time-line in my story is different too. Infinity War happens much later, compared to the film.....and in order to make a lot of things plausible, let's just imagine that Stephen Strange is a lot older than he seems and all the things including Thor and Loki happens several years after Dormammu's attack in Hong Kong.  
> And this is a WIP. But most of it is written. I just have to connect the scenes.  
> I am not English and my first language is not English...so please forgive me my mistakes. And I do not own the characters.  
> And then I wanted to give the whole story a nice ending. It can be read independently. Just remember what I have written above – and then take a lot of things at face value. They are explained in the first part: 'There was no other way' – if you are curious.
> 
> And now - in only a few days - we will see 'Endgame'. The trailers have shown different things by now. Pepper being alive and so much more - so my story is now - more than ever - an AU.

After everything had been repaired and settled and it had turned out that a lot of things people thought had happened, had just been a huge illusion (not really – it hadn't been an illusion – not for real, but that was what the collective consciousness believed now) all the Avengers and the mightiest sorcerers could finally sit down and rest. They had been allowed to 'take a step sideways' and to enter another reality. A reality where Thanos had lost. Where his snap had just killed himself – or rather: transported him into a pocket mirror-dimension, where he thought he had snapped his fingers and 'killed half of the Universe'.

 

Those sorcerers and Avengers were the only ones to remember what Thanos had done with his snap – and his doings before that, in the other reality. “Reality 1”.

 

In “Reality 1” Tony and Stephen had returned from Titan together with Nebula. Tony, Stephen and Nebula in Quill's ship. They had together with the remaining Avengers and the Entities, who had agreed to help them mending the mess, they had been participating in making, worked hard for months to re-create the new reality, “Reality 2” and now everything seemed to be in order.

 

Meticulously and painstakingly and with great care, and while holding their breaths, they had all helped each other in identifying and altering the key-events that had led to Thanos' snap and the destruction of half of the thinking species, but not in the Universe – not even in the whole Galaxy 'The Milky Way'. It had been a test of Thanos and had been limited to 'The Nine Realms' and a number of other worlds. All in all 'only' 500 worlds. Bad enough – but not compared to the trillions of solar-systems and planets, that 'The Milky Way' contained. And nothing at all compared to life in the whole enormous Universe.

 

Even if Deities did help, there was only so much that could be done. The events where Thanos and his followers, _The Black Order_ and his armies of Chitauries and Outriders had landed on planets millenniums ago – centuries ago – even just decades ago - that could not be mended. The risk of turning the whole Universe unstable was too big.

 

It was only the events happening recently, that had a chance of being altered – already had been altered, because they were now the **real** reality. Only events that could be altered with 'micro-interference' as it was called, could be changed. Huge consequences, but only by minimal actions. Looking out in the nearest future or back in time, or just by talking to people, made it possible for Tony and Stephen and the sorcerers to identify the key-events and the sorcerers used their powers and the Infinity-stone to make the new reality – the new time-line, that beings like humans and other beings bound to flesh and bodies, were forced to follow. The 4th dimension -  'time' -  which didn't mean a thing to more advanced beings – like the Deities. But it could only be done if there were still 'shadows' left of other possible events. The longer they travelled back in time, the more the other possibilities vanished and even the Deities couldn't alter that rule. Or worse: the alterations could move the now-reality in a totally other, and wrong, direction, like a ball in a pin-ball-machine.

 

And they were still in the 'mist in the valley' in the 'landscape' their brains made in their minds, in order to be able to understand something that human brains shouldn't be able to see and understand. Yet, the Time-stone had been on Earth for such a long time – and the sorcerers – The Masters of The Mystic Arts – had learned to control it and use it. Something that truly had surprised the Deities. Humans were on such a low energy and such a low mental level compared to so many other species in the Galaxy, that they shouldn't be able to do so. But during millenniums they had not alone proved to be able to guard and use the Time-stone wisely, they had shown that those humans had so much more potential, than anticipated.

 

The stones had been taken from Thanos and had been deposited other places in the Galaxy. Well apart from the Time-stone, which had been given back to the sorcerers, who protected Earth. More specific been given back to Doctor Strange. And the Mind-stone, which again was a part of Vision, was on Earth as well.

 

Again – the concepts had been a bit muddled: the Infinity-stones were not created at the beginning of the Universe. They were created together with the Milky Way and belonged there. The Universe is huge and what happened in one Galaxy would not jump through the vast distances of emptiness between Galaxies and affect other Galaxies. The Infinity-stones did belong – just like the 4 Entities: _Infinity, Eternity, Death_ and _Entropy_ – just to this Galaxy – to these trillions of suns and their planets with sentient and thinking life.

 

Earth had proved to be surprisingly resilient against the powers of the Stones. In ancient times – millions of years ago - other planets had been damaged and their inhabitants destroyed, if they had more than one Infinity-stone at the same time. And now it turned out that Earth had contained three at the same time – and even for a brief period of time the amazing number of four of the Infinity Stones – and the planet and its inhabitants had survived. Not without loss - and not without collective 'madness' – some of the big wars were caused by the powers of the stones – but again, it could have been so much worse.

 

So – Vision had been given back the Mind-stone and had been recreated – or rather – he had never been destroyed by Thanos. It had been a very convincing illusion – aided by Loki and Doctor Strange and the most skilled of the sorcerers. Well, that was what happened in the new “Reality 2”

The Time-stone was again in the care of The Sorcerer Supreme – and was contained skilfully in The Eye of Agamotto and thus being passive most of the time.

 

The Asgardians protected the Space-stone inside the Tesseract on their new planet and since the planet Knowhere with the Collector had been restored – or rather –it had never been destroyed – The Collector had the Reality-stone safely contained in his collection. And most importantly – in a way so it did exist, but was passive.

 

The Asgardians and the humans and all the rest of the species in the worlds, which had been involved in the whole mess, that Thanos' test had made, didn't know – and didn't want to know – where the remaining two Infinity-stones were.

 

Red Skull knew of course. The Soul-stone was back on Vormir. He had been asked if he wanted to return to Earth, but he had refused. He had said with a smile, that he hadn't read all the books in his house yet. And that no one, he had known, but not cared about, was still alive. But he wouldn't mind if people would come to visit from time to time.

 

So in the end it was only the location of the Power-stone, which remained a secret.

 

So, everything was back to where it had been before Thanos had collected all the stones:

The Dwarfs on Nidavellir had never been killed. They had just been hiding in the mirror dimension and illusions of them had been walking around to be killed by Thanos. Eitri had accepted to be the only one outside the mirror-dimension and to believe in the illusion in order to convince Thanos. He had cried when he had seen his people alive again and his destroyed hands had been healed by the sorcerers.

 

The destruction of Asgaard had still been necessary – it had been the only way the much too strong and destructive Hela could be destroyed. The Asgardians had not been killed by Thanos and his soldiers. Only a few of them. Just enough to keep the illusion of them being on the space-ship for real. Heimdal had suggested that he, with his powers intact, should be on the ship. He had power enough to aid to the illusion. So the remaining Asgardians, including Valkyrie, had been hiding in the mirror-dimension too. There had been two ships: One ship with only a few Asgardians on board, including Thor, Heimdal and Loki, keeping up the illusion of being the real ship and heavily aided by the skilled sorcerers from Earth. So Thanos and his soldiers had just killed illusions – including Loki – who had slapped his own head as he had discovered his mistake as Thanos killed 'him'.

 

“Damned it. I forgot to turn 'him' blue! I will turn blue if I die and my true nature – I am a Frost-giant after all – will appear. I am glad they never discovered that – and I am sorry that you had to believe in all those deaths, Thor, but otherwise Thanos would never have bought our illusions.”, Loki explained.

 

And it turned out that Loki wasn't that evil. He had followed his own agenda – or rather: a fate given him by the norns – the 3 goddesses of fate: _Urd, Verdandi_ and _Skuld_. They had shown and told him about his fate, when he was just a child: He should be a trickster and a villain, 'The God of Mischief'.....because he would have to do something very important in the distant future. And then they removed the memory of their prophecy from Loki's mind. It would be too much of a burden otherwise. The important thing, he had to do, was of course to defeat Thanos.

 

“I couldn't remember the details, only when I came close in time.....and I didn't dare deviate from my doings. Otherwise I might have jeopardized the future. I had to be evil. And....”

 

And here Loki smiled his trickster-smile, “....and it was sometimes fun being Loki, the trickster.”

 

Then he turned serious again, “But I am terrible sorry for the things I had to do on Earth. The people I killed. I just didn't dare doing things differently.......and after having been evil for some time, well – it becomes a habit. I will do my best not to return to bad habits in the future.”

 

And Loki was – if not forgiven and welcomed on Earth – then he was accepted to stay with the Asgardians and build a new home on another planet – and since the connection through Ash Yggdrasil to the former Asgaard had vanished, a new connection was made to that new planet. Odin's idea about building a new Asgaard in Norway had been rejected – both by humans and by Asgardians and Quill had told about this planet – only inhabited by primitive organisms. The deities had accepted that the Asgardians settled down there. It would require a lot of hard work to build a new Asgaard, but it would not be impossible.

_________________________

Some of the events in “Reality 1” now never happened or happened in a different way:

On Vormir Thanos had met Red Skull – the guardian of the Soul-stone – and had sacrificed Gamora. Just – he hadn't. Gamora wasn't dead and Thanos had been fooled by an illusion. One of the best Stephen Strange and Loki had ever made. And the Soul-stone was given to Thanos only because the deities allowed that deviation from the rule. The nature of the soul-stone did however render it less powerful, when it was given without a real sacrifice.

 

The battle in Wakanda never became so violent. To make the battleships with the enormous number of space-dogs explode, when they entered Earth's atmosphere and touched the now extended shield of Wakanda, it didn't require that much. There was still a battle, but there were not space-dogs attacking Wakanda in such nauseating numbers. Only one ship had made it through the shield – and that only severely damaged. So Wakanda had only been attacked by about 1000 of those Space-dogs. Only a few warriors fell and all the space-dogs were destroyed.

 

Ebony Maw and the rest of the Black Order had still attacked New York, and Vision and Wanda had been attacked in Scotland. And Stephen had still been abducted by Ebony Maw in his space-ship.

 

Proxima Midnight, Corvus Claive and Cull Obsidian had still been a part of the smaller battle in Wakanda and had been killed.

 

And on Titan they had not managed to get the Gauntlet of Thanos hand. Just like before. Just, this time they managed to damage it a bit, something Thanos didn't discover. Eitri, the dwarf, had told Thor – and they knew now – that the Gauntlet had an in-build weakness – it had to have, because it wasn't the original one – it was just a replica.

 

Tony was wounded, but not that bad, and Stephen gave Thanos an activated Time-stone. It brought Thanos to a pocket-time-reality on Titan – and as Thanos activated the Space-stone, he landed on Earth much later than he thought.

 

Back on Earth, Vision was never in the small forest and Thanos just got a Suri-made replica of the Mind-stone and as he snapped his fingers, the Gauntlet – defect and malfunctioning as it was – just nearly killed Thanos. And not all the beings, he had killed in the former reality. Not that it did change much for Thanos, because he was transported – with a burned left side and a damaged gauntlet, to a place resembling his beloved former Titan, before his people had destroyed the planet. The planet he had talked about  - the planet he called 'The Garden'. In his eyes and in his mind, he had managed to kill ' _half of all life in the Universe_ ' and he had no more ambitions. What he didn't know, was that the Universe – the Galaxy 'The Milky Way' – had continued their new and altered time-line without him. He had failed his test – killing half of all life had not been the solution – but now he was made harmless and was living happily in his own little mirror-dimension.

 

And things returned to normal. People had died and they didn't come back, because people die all the time. But no one crumbled to dust in front of their friends and families and aeroplanes did not fall from the sky because the pilots had vanished. Nuclear-plants never had melt-downs, because all the technicians had vanished. All the catastrophes that Thanos' snap had made in the other reality just never happened.

 

Only the Avengers and the sorcerers could remember that there had been another and more grim future. But despite the events had been erased form their memoires, people all over Earth had sometimes weird nightmares, but since they never spoke about them, they didn't know that others did share the same nightmares.

 

And Anthony Edward 'Tony' Stark was finally married to Virginia 'Pepper' Potts.

 

It was not a big event – and not in New York. Both Tony and Pepper had bad memories of battles in that city. So it was at one of Tony's mansions in California. One of the 3 that replaced the one that was destroyed 5 years ago. All the Avengers were invited – and Peter was one of them now. His aunt May was now living in on of Tony Stark's apartment complexes and more often than not, she was living with Peter in the headquarters of the Avengers in the Stark Tower. She had proved to be a very necessary source of 'common sense' and had become friends with Pepper. Her skills as a nurse had shown themselves useful as well.

 

Wong attended the wedding, - he had after all been personally invited, and Karl Mordo too, but Stephen Strange didn't turn up. Just after everything had been settled and the weird period of waiting and assessing and re-assessing every move in order to change the reality and the time-line – and a period where Tony and Stephen had grown close – had become friends – more than friends, they had had a row. Stephen had again told Tony that he ought to turn down his arrogance a bit and how it – again – had nearly cost them the victory over Thanos. Tony had yelled something back about Stephen being an arrogant prick and not even human any-more so why didn't he just shut up and ….. and one word had taken another and Stephen had finally made a portal and had disappeared. Tony did regret his own words, but some of Stephen's words had stung and had hit a bit too close to home ...and Tony had hated it. He had thought them to be close friends – very close – and now – no matter how often he tried to call the Sanctum or contact Stephen, he was just told that Stephen ' _was busy making balloon-animals_ '.

 

That stung too, because Tony was reminded how wrong he had been about Doctor Strange. But apparently Stephen had just used him. They had been intimate – born of hunger for another human being those three weeks, they ad been waiting on Titan, before they could return to Earth...and those three months they had worked so hard before the 'new reality' could be launched. Tony had been fascinated by Stephen's skill-set, and had been impressed and after a very bad nightmare, Stephen had comforted him.....they had hugged and then kissed - and one thing had lead to another. And how could Tony be blamed? Here was this gorgeous man, with a body like a Greek God and...And now it turned out that Tony had just been a ...a fuck-toy. Damn that arrogant prick! But Tony still missed him.

 

Pepper and Tony were given an ancient and very valuable big Chinese lacquer box . 'From the whole Sanctum Sanctorum' as Wong said and Wong promised that the only magic in that box was that it was made watertight and would preserve anything put into it. It was not a new spell – it was something woven into the material. And he brought them 'a greeting from The Sorcerer Supreme' as well.

 

Tony had to admit that he missed Stephen and was disappointed that he hadn't shown up. Pepper told him that he was an idiot and kissed him. Tony just wondered what she had meant.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. A late-night conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper tells Tony some truths.

And then life carried on. But somehow everything was a bit different. It was as if people had a feeling that they had got a second chance. Why else would people be less greedy and more caring? It was like that all over the world. Even the governments in Israel and Palestine were talking and trying to find a solution. And the wall was torn down, just like in Germany in Berlin in November '89. Not that crimes weren't committed, but it was as if the crimes on governmental level had disappeared.

Maybe it was because it had turned out that the richest country in the world was a small African nation called Wakanda – and Wakanda was prepared to share it's knowledge and small amounts of wibranium with the world.

 

And Pepper found out that she was pregnant and it was a girl, had the scans shown and Tony was over the moon with happiness – almost.

 

Because he had still terrible nightmares and still problems with insomnia and had a nagging feeling about him taking a wrong turn at a point recently in his life. Why wasn't he happy? He was going to become a father and he loved his wife with a fierce love that only could be compared to.....and that was the point where he stopped his thoughts.

Because it had happened during a period of extreme stress and so little sleep and they had all been living in a bubble of time, that was not a part of this time-line – this Universe. And it had been born of desperation and intense waiting on Titan – those 3 weeks had brought him and Stephen so close. Stephen had saved his life and had been so amazing and competent and they had all been brought off-kilter by all those terrible events. They had been left raw and vulnerable – their lives had been so close to be ended – well, Stephen _had_ died – and just like soldiers on a battlefield they had sought comfort by each-other. An embrace – a kiss – and then......

 

And how could he not? He had been there – stranded on Titan and there was this man – brilliant and gorgeous and with a face, you could not forget. Those cheekbones..and those eyes, that changed colour according to Stephens mood. And a body of a Greek God hiding under all those layers.

 

Stephen had laughed when Tony complained and had said, “ _All those layers”_. Tony – there are not more layers here than in normal Western clothing. And I am by the way wearing Western undergarments: Boxer briefs and a tank top. Then socks – trousers – a tunic and a padded waistcoat. You would be wearing more layers wearing a 3-piece suit.”

 

Tony huffed. He shouldn't think about that idiot's nice body and handsome face. Tony was a married man and Stephen had not meant anything by his nice words and actions – not on Titan and not those 3 desperate months back on Earth again. If he had meant anything, he wouldn't have said so many terrible things to Tony afterwards.

 

So Tony was lying awake many nights, either because of nightmares – and he had plenty material to build them from – and the curse of an eidetic memory – or just because he had things to worry about.

 

This night Pepper discovered that he was awake, as she left their bed to pee. The pregnancy caused her to go peeing in the middle of the night.

 

As she returned to the bed, she discovered that Tony was awake. She snug under the duvet, put her head on his shoulder and arm and he put the other hand over her stomach. Her pregnancy could be seen by now. And Tony gently caressed her bump, but didn't say anything, apart from, “F.R.I.D.A.Y – light on 15%”

 

Pepper was the first to speak, “I went to the scan today....and everything is totally in order, despite..”

 

Tony frowned, “Despite?”

 

“Despite my age and …..oh Tony – I do remember. Like a dream – like a weird memory. That people around me crumbled to dust. That I crumbled myself. That I was at a weird place – with a lot of other people. Dreaming – my sense of time distorted. I was there for a long time – and then no time at all. Like being sleepy and thinking you have only closed your eyes for 5 minutes and then you have slept for 2 hours. I know we are not supposed to remember, but Tony....?

 

“Yes?”, was the only thing Tony could say. He ad been so shocked by what Pepper had revealed, that he – very uncharacteristically – had just listened.

 

Pepper continued, “I think that I am not the only one. Well, apart from you Avengers and the Sorcerers – you were supposed to remember. But somehow people around the world are just a bit nicer to each other. Less greedy- and nicer. And no major mad villains have popped up.”

 

“Mm – yes I think you are right, but you were not supposed to remember..”, said Tony.

 

“I know. But maybe the deities do not totally know and understand the human mind?”, suggested Pepper.

 

Tony closed his eyes and sighed, “You know about them too?”

 

There was a pause and then Pepper continued, “I had some unanswered questions, so I visited the Sanctum Sanctorum and Wong., and he told me a lot of things – at least, when I asked directly.”

 

Tony turned his head and looked at her, but didn't say anything.

 

Pepper continued as she took Tony's hand and kissed it, than she turned and looked at Tony and said, “I want you to listen carefully to what I say and not interrupt me? Can you do that, Love?”

 

“I can try.”

 

Then Pepper placed Tony's hand on her stomach, covered it with her own hand and began, “I want our little Morgan to be safe – and now I am selfish – because I want to be safe too. So Tony – I want you to go back to Stephen again!”

 

Tony's head snapped around and he looked at her, “Say what?!”

 

“You heard me. And you promised me to stay silent and just listen. So, do you remember - in Central Park – as Doctor Strange – Stephen – came and asked for your help?....And you can answer me.”

 

Tony frowned, “I do...we had a conversation about dreams and babies and my nano-housing in my chest - and monsters in the closet..”

 

Pepper smiled at the memory and continued, “I said that I hated that device in your chest and that I would prefer, if you had only shirts in your closet and when we spoke the last time, before you disappeared into space, I ordered you to come back to Earth and to me.”

 

She turned and looked at him, “That is why I am not good for you. I love 'Tony Stark' with all my heart and soul, but I hate that you risk your life for random others as 'Iron Man'. And it is not fair, because if you were not Iron Man and had acted as Iron Man – and if it hadn't been for the Avengers and for the sorcerers – Earth wouldn't exist. And I want it to exist. I want it to be a relatively safe place – for me and for our child. I will have to let you go – I'll have to let you be Iron Man. Have to accept the hole in your chest. You – being Iron Man – is more important than my wish for you to be just 'Tony Stark'. That is why Stephen is a better partner than me. Not that he would bring you into danger – he would rather die protecting you – but he would allow you to be 'you'. And I will be more safe with you as Iron Man protecting Earth and him in tip-top-shape. He needs a companion. He has been so lonely and he loves you and....”

 

Tony shook his head, “He doesn't love me. He despises me. The things he yelled at me, showed that with unwanted clarity.”

 

She moved and kissed him on the cheek, “Despite being such a genius, Tony, you can be incredible daft. He loves you. And I can't blame him. He just pushed you away, because he is an honourable man and he wanted you to do the right thing. Which in this case was the wrong thing...and one thing more, Tony. Look at your hand.”

 

She lifted his right hand and showed him the little red burn-mark, he had on his thumb.

 

“What is wrong? It was just a scratch.” Tony said.

 

Pepper shook her head, “Nope..”

 

And she spoke out in the room, “F.R.I.D.A.Y....show what happened in the workshop yesterday.”

 

And F.R.I.D.A.Y showed how Tony had burned himself severely.

 

“Zoom in on Tony's thumb. And freeze picture...”, Pepper said and Tony could see that it was actually a 3rd degree burn he had made. A wound.

 

Pepper kissed his thumb, “Wong told me that you had been severely injured in that other reality and even injured in this. That Stephen had healed you, and that he did that by sharing his substance. Even in this version of reality he is not quite human any-more. And heals incredibly fast. If he gave you some of his substance, you have now gained some of his healing abilities. Not that I do mind – because you have been so close to death and have been so injured more times that I do like to think about – but it means that you are not quite human any more as well. And Tony, I do know and accept how close you two became on Titan – even in this reality – because you had to find a way to repair the two damaged ships before you could return. Even in this reality it took you more than 14 days to return."

 

Pepper paused ans caressed Tony's hand and then she continued, "And I know and respect that you became very – intimate – in that other reality. Wong spoke about 'multiple reality-versions' – I am not sure I quite understood, but it has something to do with finding and choosing the exact right version, and that without being able to use the Time-stone. Something about a 'mental mist'. So...this is my point: You are more than a man now, more 'Iron-man' than 'Tony Stark'. You are in love – with the most amazing sorcerer on Earth. And he loves you. He is gorgeous at the same time, Tony – I am not blind and I know that you are bi-sexual and I know that you probably were together in more than one reality-version – at least from Stephen's point of view. So how can he not love you, Tony? And Earth will be a much safer place for me and for Morgan if you both are out there protecting us.”

 

Tony nodded, “Are you finished?”

 

“No – not yet. I love you with all my heart and all my being, Tony. But I am not the ideal partner for you, and I am not talking about the sex. I can't soothe your nightmares –I can't prevent your panic-attacks. Stephen can do that – did that. So Tony – go back to the man, who would be the ideal partner for you.”

 

Tony frowned, “But I can never let you and Morgan down – I choose you, Pepper. You are my wife. I didn't choose Doctor Strange, who by the way said some horrible things about me. They still sting.”

 

Pepper smiled, “You will never let me down....and not Morgan either. Our baby is going to have the most amazing family: two fathers, a mother, the most amazing big brother – Spiderman – and a lot of aunts and uncles – the Avengers - to protect him. And I will not be alone – May will be here too. And Tony, I do like the sex with you – but it is not that important. Has never been that important in my life. And knowing that you and Stephen will keep eachother happy and functioning – it will make Earth a safer place for me and Morgan. Please Tony, do the right thing and go back to the man who loves you so much.”

 

“But...But the things he said?”

 

“He said those things to make it easier for you to go back to me. Stephen thought it was the right thing to do, because he is such an honourable man. Contact him, Tony. Ask him. Now.”

 

Tony looked at her – but felt in his hearth that she was right. He loved her – but he loved Stephen too.

 

He found his phone and despite him having deleted Stephen's number, when he had been so angry with him, he could the number by heart.

 

It only rang two times, before it was answered, “Hello – is that you Tony? Is something wrong? Pepper? The baby?” - Stephens deep baritone sounded in Tony's ear. God, how Tony had missed that voice.

 

“Yes – it is me. And everything is fine with Pepper and the baby. I just.... - Pepper visited Wong today and they talked and she remembers some things from the other reality and...”

 

“Wong told me.”, Stephen interrupted and continued, “Is she worried and would she need some help to accept...?”

 

“She is fine and says hello. She has just told me that I am an idiot and have made a terrible mistake and...”

 

Tony could almost hear Stephen's smirk as he said, “You will have to be more specific, Tony. When exactly were you an idiot?”

 

“Around the same time, you were too, Stephen. When you lied to me and said those terrible things and I believed them. So we need to talk. Pepper actually has sent me into your arms and says that you and I ought to figure something out. She says that you love me and that I love you and we should be together.”

 

Silence...and then, “Wow...that is quite a message at 2 o'clock in the morning.”, sounded Stephen's voice. And only because Tony knew him, he could hear a slight tremble in that voice.

 

And Tony had to ask, “Is it a lie then?”

 

And Stephen answered, “Your Pepper has always shown a remarkable skill-set regarding other people's feelings. No it is not a lie – I do love you – and want the very best for you. You better come over. I have quite a few things to tell you – and to confess.”, he sighed and continued, “And then you can go back to where you belong.”

 

A sparkling portal opened and Stephen's bedroom in the Sanctum Sanctorum could be seen. He was sitting in his bed and waved as he saw Pepper. She got up and pushed Tony towards the portal, “Now go!”, she said.

 

 


	3. Some confessions late at night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen Strange has quite a few things to confess - and expects Tony to leave him, because of the lies.

In Stephen's bedroom Tony approached Stephen's bed as the portal closed behind him, “May I sit down?” and he pointed at the end of the bed.

 

“Of course”, said Stephen and made room for Tony.

 

Tony sat down on the bed, facing Stephen and with his right leg bent - and they looked at each other.

 

Then Tony broke the silence and said, “One thing first. Where is Cloak? I don't want him to come bursting in like the last times, when it was believing that I was hurting you.”

 

Stephen pointed at his wardrobe and smiled, “I think Cloak found out that you were not hurting me, so right now? He is...asleep – resting.”

 

Tony nodded and continued, “I will have to admit that I did believe those things you said about me, when we.....walked our separate ways. Pepper told me I was an idiot and that you had just said those things to push me away from you, and back into her arms and...”

 

“Where you belong, Tony. A relationship with me would be.....”

 

Tony interrupted, “...good for us both. She is right.”

 

And Tony told exactly what Pepper had said and had explained why Tony should go back to Stephen.

 

Tony shook his head – and it was so unfair that Stephen could look that good, all sleepy and rumbled – and with his normally perfect hair a bit out of order. How could he look that good? Was the first thing in Tony's mind. And those lips and those cheekbones and that voice and those broad naked shoulders and was he totally naked under that duvet?... and...

 

“Tony? Are you listening?, brought him back to the present now.

 

“Ermm.....yes. You said something about confessions?”

 

Stephen took a deep breath and looked at Tony, “Yes. I have quite a few. And I know how you feel about betrayal and being lied to........so here we go: I am much older than I look and.....”

 

Tony frowned, “But that is something I do know!”

 

“You do?”

 

“Yes. You told me about Dormammu and Hong Kong while we were still on Titan – in the other reality. You told me about you defeating him with part sass, part arrogance, part determination, sacrifice and incredible courage. That you were trapped there for months. And you even hinted about you cheating back in Kamar-Taj, using the Time-stone to have time to read. So I suppose you got older there back then. And I saw you on Titan, as you were glowing green at looked at 14.000.605 possibilities. I know you said that about looking out in the future and see it from a 'helicopter-view' and not being able to land in that weird landscape of moving treads, which showed all the possibilities of a future. You told you couldn't 'land', because then you would have chosen a future, if you did so. But you did tell me about the futures, where you fled with the Time-stone in either Quill's ship or Nebula's ship and how it was a descend into madness for both you and Thanos and how he ended up killing beings on so many planets."

 

Tony paused and took a deep breath, before he continued, "You even told me, that you had to draw on the Dark Magic and the Chaos Magic, because that was the only way you could keep yourself alive and ahead of the mad Titan, who had 5 of the stones – and you had only one. You told me that. So I suppose you couldn't just look at those possibilities within seconds. And 14.000.605 seconds are after all – if we say that you used one minute per future – and that is a bit of a low estimate – but 14.000.605 seconds multiplied with 60 is after all almost 4000 hours. And that is about 162 days, so of course you are older than you look. There is not much confession in that. Even if each future took longer to look at, so you were gone a whole year – so what? I knew.”

 

Stephen didn't dare correct Tony's multiplications, because they were not relevant to what Stephen was going to say. He just said, “Well – a bit more than that, I think. But that is not the problem. Tony – do you remember when I told why I had to make balloon-animals and entertain at parties and Wong worked for the libraries? That we had to make electronic money, because we couldn't pay for water and renovation with artefacts or gold, but needed valid money?”

 

Tony nodded and asked, “I hope it is sorted out by now? – Stark Industries is paying you for your job – just like the Avengers.”

 

“Yeah...yeah – we are good. But there are other problems in this digitalized world and it is not easy to hide. TAO was 800 years old, Kaecilius was 150, Karl Mordo 500 years. To hide such an age and to fiddle with archives and electronic versions – databases – it is not easy. But we do it – we cheat. Tony...and I.....”

 

Stephen took a deep breath and looked at Tony, “Here it comes: Stephen Vincent strange was not born in 1978, his sister didn't drown in 1994, he didn't graduate in 1996. He didn't invent a operating robot in 2010 and didn't destroy his hands in 2016 – two years ago. That was all a veil – a lie. Something Karl Mordo helped us fake on various databases.”

 

Tony just looked at him, but didn't say a word.

 

Stephen continued, “I was born in 1930. And the events happened, but a lot earlier.”

 

Tony frowned, “But how could you invent an operating robot back in the..” and Tony made calculations in his head, “..in the early 1960ties? Computers were huge then – and not very fast. The astronauts went to the Moon in '69 based on gigantic heaps of calculations made by hand by the only mathematicians they trusted:  Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson and the computers they used could do less, than a skilled Japanese with his Soroban. ”

 

“It was a robot – with gears and rods - and the 'machine' controlling it, was the surgeon's mind.”, explained Stephen.

 

Tony nodded, “I see. Like the equipment in a lab, when you can't touch the stuff in the bio-safety cabinets. But who invented the robot connected to the computer, then? Because it does exist. I have seen it.”

 

“Christine Palmer – only with a little help from me. You see – she agreed on being my alibi and pretend we had known each other before the accident. She is 'my' Christine's grandchild – and 'my Christine' is a 'Catherine' and her mind has crumbled because of Alzheimer's years ago. She is in a home now, being taken care of.”

 

“Oh”, was everything Tony could say and then he smiled, “That is why no one could see as Dormammu had destroyed parts of Hong Kong. It didn't happen then – last year. It happened...when?”

 

“In 1969. In August. There were satellites, but not with very good cameras. And everything was just top-secret and military and no one had time to watch that, because 3 men were landing on the Moon.”

 

Tony smiled, “What a timing.”

 

Stephen frowned, “You are not mad at me for lying to you?”

 

“No”

 

“But...Tony. Don't you see the consequences?”

 

“I don't. Honestly. It is a bit weird, that you are almost as old as Bucky and Steve – but apart from that then....oh..”

 

“Yeah – now you see it. Why didn't we stop your abusive father? Why didn't we prevent – well not so much me, but the rest of the sorcerers – 'HYDRA'? Stopped the 1st World War – the 2nd? Prevented 'The Winter Soldier” - sawed your parents? Prevented all the bad things from happening: you being kidnapped and nearly killed? Obadiah's betrayal? Vanko's attack. The Chitauries attacking New York? Killian's betrayal? HYDRA again raising from the dead? Ultron? The civil war between you Avengers? - Which by the way in our eyes were just schoolboys fighting in the corner of the school-yard – I am sorry Tony, but that was what it looked like in our eyes – and we were busy fighting real monsters. Well, and all the rest that have made your life hellish and caused you to suffer an abusive father, a hole in your chest, palladium-poisoning, near-death experiences, abductions, explosions, nightmares, manipulations, betrayals and....”

 

Tony had moved and now touched Stephen's hands as he said, “And made me the man, I am to day. Frayed and defect and somehow still able to keep my little corner of the World safe. And you can't and couldn't prevent every thing evil in the world. Can't keep an eye on every person. You told me that The Ancient One had said that to you as well.....and even implied that she wouldn't have interfered, because in that case you wouldn't have been able to defeat Dormammu, because you would never had ended up in Kamar-Taj.”

 

“But we did interfere with your fate, Tony. We did.”

 

“What did you do?”

 

“There were so many versions, where you were just a little wounded in the attack from the Ten Rings – and never ended up as Iron-man. Versions, where you died from your injuries. Versions where you did survive for a while and died of horrible infections. So we broke some rules: Ho Yinsen operated on you in a mirror-dimension, which we created, so it was almost sterile. When he used 'plastic-bags' to save your life, so your lungs didn't collapse, before he got the housing inserted in the remnants of your sternum, it were advanced 'bio-membranes'.. - and the housing, which just 'happened to be lying around in all that scrap' was a very special designed housing, created by Karl Mordo and containing magic in its structure, to prevent inflammations. We did put you through all that agony – including a palladium-poisoning – so you could become the Iron-man, we had seen in our visions.”

 

“I see..”

 

Stephen frowned and wanted to know, “Aren't you going to punch me for putting you through such misery and agony - and then leave me?”

 

Tony smiled and touched Stephen's hands, “No I am not going to do that and by the way...do you remember Star Trek?”

 

“What?!”

 

“Just humour me, please. Do you remember Star Trek?”

 

“I do. With William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy – and Bones – in the television. It was rather primitive: school-tables and cardboard boxes and ply-wood....and coloured bulbs. But it worked. What about them?”

 

Tony did look a bit confused, and then he smiled, “Oh. I never saw The Original Series on TV. I saw it in the movies. JJ Abrams' version. _Star Trek, Star trek into Darkness_ and _Star Trek beyond_. That actor from 'Sherlock' from BBC – he played Khan in the second film.”

 

“Oh good. Well I hope he was a bit better than Ricardo Montalban on TV. Montalban was such a 'ham' – over-acting. And even worse some years later with wild 80ties hair and dressed in a car-seat. So much 'too much' – both his acting and the costumes.”

 

“No – this 'Khan' was brilliantly acted. You even felt sorry for him and understood his actions. And no wild costumes. Khan was just clad in black and no wild hair. Just one hell of an acting. Well – back to my point. Do you remember what Spock used to say regarding something about 'needs'?”

 

“Well – something like  “ _ Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” _ , answered Stephen and continued, “ …..and most of the time it would mean that Spock was going to sacrifice himself in order to save the ship or the crew - or just his captain.”

 

Tony nodded, “You do remember. So, Stephen Vincent Strange – do you blame The Ancient One for your abusive and very stern father and his up-bringing bordering on child-abuse? An upbringing, which made you very determined and focused. Or for the incident at the lake, where you didn't manage to save your sister and your cousin? It caused you to distance yourself from other people.  Do you blame her for the car-crash? For your desperate search for a cure and your struggles at Kamar-Taj? Your battle with Dormammu? All the things that made you the Sorcerer Supreme – do you blame her for not interfering? For outweighing the needs of Earth against your happiness?”

 

Stephen shook his head, “No – I don't blame her. A lot of those things had nothing to do with her – and knowing that Earth wouldn't have existed, if I hadn't been me – it is a heavy burden and I am always – thanks to my father – afraid of failing. And it is a privilege serving Earth. But then again, TAO told me that 'it was not about me' – which meant that if I had done my best, it would have been enough – even if I failed. The burden was not mine alone to carry.”

 

Tony just smiled at him and asked, “So you would do it all again?”

 

“Yes – of course. It is worth it. Just like Spock said. And compared to the rest of the world - or even the Galaxy – if my life could save others, it would be worth it. As I have shown. I have been prepared to die if necessary.”

 

Now Tony's smile was even bigger and he had a glint in his beautiful brown eyes, “Then why do you think, that I would answer so much more differently than you? Ask me Stephen. Ask me.”

  
  
Stephen hesitated for a moment and then he asked, “Was it worth it? The mental abuse from Howard Stark? Your weak mother? That your parents were killed? That you were lonely and desperate despite all your money? Hiding behind a mask of arrogance and haughtiness? That you were wounded and had been turned into a cyborg? That you were poisoned and had to work like a maniac to re-create an arc-reactor, that wouldn't kill you? And all the times you were abandoned – betrayed – lied to? All the times where you were wounded and where your friends did hurt you and did let you down? Was it worth it, Anthony Stark?”

 

Tony laughed and took Stephen's hands in his hands and gave them a light squeeze, “Yes, god-damn-it, it was worth it. To save the world. To defeat Thanos. To find another person just as frayed and damaged as me – apart from that he is more handsome – and is carrying his goatee with more elegance than me – and he possesses the body of a Greek god and is so powerful that he could have whipped Thanos' ass if Thanos hadn't had the Infinity-stones and in the end did whip Thanos' ass – yes it was worth every suffering and betrayal because we are here now – and I love you so much.”

 

Stephen was speechless for a moment and then he said, “Wow – and I disagree. You are the handsome one here. I look as if a cousin-cousin party didn't stop in time. Some in-breed quality. After all my mother was a 'Strange' too....”

 

Finally his eyes did sparkle and he said, “Come here, Tony. I want to hug you and kiss you – and then send you away – back to Pepper.”

 

His words did hurt Tony, but he kept his hands in Stephen's, “Why?”

 

Stephen saw the hurt in Tony's eyes, “Oh...I'm sorry. Not for ever. No – I will not let you go. Not at all. But that is where your clothes are and you will have to keep up appearances. Tony – the Avengers are not always praised. People do not know that the Avengers and the sorcerers did save the world. And it is as it should be. Regarding us sorcerers. We are veiled with spells in Nepal and Tibet. Governments there are not supposed to know about us. They will try to stop us – will try to destroy the Temples – as it has happened before. Even the Sanctums in New York, London and Hong Kong and the new ones in the 'neural network' of new Sanctums, created to be a more safe solution and less vulnerable part of the shield protecting Earth – even those Sanctums are very discrete. We do not have a neon-sign up on the roof that says 'Sanctum Sanctorum'. And like that we hide our abilities. Even if Nick Fury at a point and the CIA and the FBI thought about confiscating the slings-rings. It scared the hell our of them knowing that we could enter every secret facility. Not that it would have helped much. Sling-rings are for Novices. A skilled sorcerer can make a portal without a sling-ring. It is just less effort with a ring than without."

 

Stephen paused and gave Tony's hand a squeeze in return, "So – back to my point: to the public I am just known as a man, who can be hired to entertain at parties. And man of somewhat dubious character – and a bit of a charlatan in a weird costume. Can you imagine how much your public image would be damaged, if you left your wife – your pregnant wife – for a man of dubious character? The Avengers and Iron man are not always popular. People died in Sokovia, died in LA, died in New York and a lot of other places, so you will have to be careful. Because people do not know what we have done. And it is fine. I do not need people standing outside this house and worshipping us.”

 

Tony smirked and touched Stephen's face, “I wouldn't mind worshipping you – in a very different way – again – as we did on Titan and back on Earth afterwards – in the other reality.”

 

And Stephen blushed a bit.

 

Tony rose and began very slowly to take off his dressing gown and his pyjama pants, his T-shirt and his boxer-briefs, while he asked, “One more question: are you naked under that sheet?”

 

Stephen just smiled and threw the sheet aside so Tony could see his body and no – he was wearing a pair of boxer-briefs too. But they couldn't hide Stephen's bodily response to Tony's nakedness.

 

“Come here – I have missed you so much”, sounded his deep baritone and Tony was sure that that voice one day might cause him to come untouched.

 

 


	4. A bit of sex and more revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only a bit of sex - and then Tony learns something unexpected about himself. They talk about Tony's Nanites and Stephen's scars - those from his childhood as well.

They had most of all just kissed and rubbed against each-others bodies and touched all over, with lips and hands, because they had been without each other for such a long time – and in Stephen's case without sex at all – he had lost his mood as he had lost Tony - so it didn't take long for either of the men to shudder and have an orgasm almost simultaneously.

 

Afterwards they were lying close to each other – despite a bit of stickiness that Stephen removed with a few movements of his free hand.

 

“The merits of having sex with a wizard.”, mumbled Tony sleepily, with his nose scrunched into Stephen's neck and lying half atop of Stephen and with Stephen's left arm holding him securely in place and he continued, “Where did you put it?”...because he knew that much, that Stephen couldn't just make things totally disappear.

 

Stephen laughed, and Tony could feel him move, “Where I always put I – into the loo.”

 

“Hmmm....that's why there are thingies in the loo afterwards, when I need to pee?”

 

“Thingies? Toddler-talk? - like when your called your nano-robots 'Nanites'?”

 

“Whoa...that is a very scientific name, you berk..” and then Tony woke a bit more and turned so his head was on Stephen's shoulder. He lied there and then he turned and looked at Stephen and touched his own nano-housing on his chest, “You don't find it repulsive?”

 

Because Stephen had kissed it at a point during their rubbing against each other.

 

Stephen frowned, “No – why should I? It is you, even if it doesn’t contain your arc-reactor any-more but your 'Nanites'. I find it utterly fascinating.”

 

Tony looked at him. “Pepper hates it...”

 

“Can you blame her, Tony? She loves 'Tony Stark', but sometimes hates to be reminded that you are Iron-man as well – and thus jeopardizing your life for others. It reminds her of the times, where you almost died, when Obadiah stole your arc-reactor and almost caused your heart to stop – and when you were dying of palladium-poisoning and all the other times where you came so close to be picked by Madame Death that you could have told the colour of her eyes... And when you finally could have the shrapnel removed and had plastic surgery, so the hole in your chest was closed, so you looked 'normal' and more like a human being than a cyborg, - then you chose to have the housing back in. What was she supposed to believe, Tony? That you preferred to be a cyborg instead of a human being?”

 

“And you?”

 

“Well I can hardly blame you for having a hole in your sternum, as I almost put it there. And I can understand, why you wanted the security of having it back in.”, said Stephen.

 

Tony frowned, “Security?”

 

“The arc-reactor and the magnet saved your life for so many years - and later the reactor worked as a pacemaker, because your heart hadn't recovered totally yet – but is now. So closing that hole would make it difficult to save your life it an emergency should arise. You just wanted the housing so you could put in an emergency pace-maker if needed. Then you invented the Nanites and needed a place to store them.”

 

And now Stephen's eyes glinted as he bowed down and kissed the nano-housing again, “I can think of a few – hmmmm.....bodily cavities - where they could be stored, but it would look weird if they came out of your ass!”

 

Tony laughed and gave Stephen a shove, “You prick!”

 

Then Tony turned serious again, “The operation was most of all surface. My sternum had still a hole in it, as the bone matter had regrown in a circular shape around the housing. My muscles and veins and arteries had moved too – Everything in my chest had been pushed around – my lungs, the position of my heart and bringing everything back to where it had been, before I had been injured, would have caused me a lot of pain. So a bone-prosthesis was put into that hole and a balloon with saline-water had been placed under my skin, so the skin would grow and cower the hole. Now it almost looked normal – if you didn't look to closely – because I still had a circular part in the middle of my sternum.”

 

“And then you thought you could just as well use your weirdness to something useful?”

 

“Exactly. I could have carried the Nanites in some sort of canister on my person. It is just more convenient to have them closer to me. And you think it is awesome?”

 

Stephen smiled again and moved and touched the housing with his lips and said, “ Yes.....even if I appreciate that the surgeons did stretch your skin. It would have looked funny of your nipples had been closer together, but easier for me to do this.”

 

Then he moved a bit more and began kissing Tony's left nipple and fondled with the other with his hand.

 

“Oh God..” moaned Tony.

 

Stephen stopped long enough to smirk and said, “Anatomical studies show that there is a direct connection between a man's nipples and his cock.”

 

Tony smiled and moved so Stephen could get better access and moaned again, “And an exact point of pleasure is up a man's ass, exactly the spot another man's cock would hit...and Oh God....”

 

“No no. Don't call me 'God' I am just me, Stephen Strange and you should know....” , said Stephen and then he was interrupted and turned around by Tony's strong arms and now it was his nipples that were sucked and fondled. Tony looked at him with mirth in his eyes as Stephen now sighed, and Tony said, “You were saying?”

 

Stephen didn't say anything, he just dragged Tony up so they could kiss. “Nothing...Oh bugger. I have missed you so much, Tony. And.....”, Stephen hesitated before he continued, “...you must understand that I will cherish every second, every minute, every hour that we can find in our busy schedule to be together, but..”

 

And he lifted his hand and put his finger on Tony's lips before he continued, “...it must be s secret.”

 

Tony shook his head, “How can we do that? Rhodey would find out in a heartbeat, Bruce would see it instantly, Steve and the others too, not to mention Peter and....”

 

Stephen smiled, “They do know! They do remember 'Reality 1' and we weren't especially discrete then. And they kept their mouths shot when we entered 'Reality 2' in order not to hurt Pepper, even if she knew and accepted it and understood why. She is really a remarkable woman. But Tony – no matter how much I love you, I will find it difficult to share you.”

 

“Share me?”

 

“With Pepper...”

 

Now it was Tony's turn to smile, “Stephen, Love. Did you listen to what I told you about what Pepper had said? I will remain married to her, and you are right about the public image, but I will be married to you in every sense of the word – apart from a ring and a certificate. And when times come – and it is possible - I would very much like to get that ring on your finger and sign that certificate with you. You mean so much to me - and this is not nicely said about my former partners, including my wife: but sex with them – both men and women – has been …nice. Like having a small need that was fulfilled. Like a sneeze.”

 

Tony moved closer to Stephen and kissed him, a tender kiss, before he continued, “But with you? It is the 4th of July. Fireworks! Lightning up the whole night sky. I never knew that sex could be so good. That someone could wring so much pleasure out of my body. Even this earlier rather tame version of sex, at least when it comes to us, it was so much better than I have had for a long time. Maybe it is because we are connected somehow and....”

 

Stephen frowned, “You do honestly believe in 'soul-mates?”

 

Tony shook his head, “No – not in ' _There is only one person for you in the whole world' –_ but you and I had a connection from the beginning and....”

 

“There is nothing better for romance that facing death together?”

 

Tony laughed, “You make it sound so sappy. No.....not just that. But when we worked together. There was a connection. And I am sorry again, because my being impressed by you came out as sass – 'wizard' and 'balloon-animals' and you didn't deserve that.”

 

“Well – I didn't speak up as that grey abomination called your a 'chattering animal'......and I told you that I would let you – and Peter die – if it came to choose between you and the Time-stone.”

 

Tony kissed him again and said, “But you lied...”

 

“I did – because I could see the future – not clearly – but you were still alive. And by the way – I never told you how impressed I was by your suit. It is just now – after I healed you – that you have some sort of super-power and can heal fast. Before that it was just your intelligence protecting you.”

 

Tony answered with a 'hmmm' and then he looked at Stephen, “You crumbled to dust and had a new re-generated body – no scars on your hands. I do remember that. But how come that you don't have scars in this reality either? You were not re-build in this version 2?”

 

Stephen looked at his hands, “I think I was. Ebony Maw tortured me in both realities and we fought Thanos in both realities. That was the same. I had used a lot of my magical strength – I was wounded and exhausted. I think that the 'crumbling' was just the last thing. And if you do remember – on Titan in this reality – I had scars on my body and my hands. They have just faded away. The re-building of my body just happened a bit slower here in this reality. Ignited by Ebony Maw's torture and the injuries after the battle, even if they were not that bad this time. Otherwise I couldn't have healed you. Look!”

 

And Stephen moved so Tony could see his back, “You do remember how my back looked in this reality? You asked the first time after I came out of the sonic-shower in Quill's ship.”

 

And Tony nodded, “Faint lines – on your back and on your buttocks. But they are gone now.”

 

Stephen turned so he could look into Tony's eyes, “And you asked me about them..”

 

“I did – and I said that my father was abusive, but 'only' mentally and then you told me about your father. How he would punish you. Corporally. Now knowing that it was in the 30ties it makes more sense, even if it wasn't uncommon in my childhood either.”

 

Stephen smiled a bit sadly, “And I never denied it. It was not uncommon in that part of the country, bringing up children with violence. Every little mistake was added to the 'tally' and executed on Saturdays. With a special selection of belts, hanging behind the kitchen door to be seen every day as a reminder.”

 

Stephen took a deep breath and continued, “I was the eldest and was sometimes held accountable for my smaller siblings' behaviours. And sometimes I took the blame. Then my father found out that I might have been a bit to 'friendly' with one of my friends – Thomas – and he said that 'he would beat that homosexuality out of me' – so my distance to my parents was not just because my sister and my cousin drowned and I felt that they blamed me – it was because of my fathers sternness. It was totally out of proportion.”

 

Stephen stopped looked at Tony and asked, “Have you ever gone 'trick or treat'?”

 

Tony smiled, “When I was very young – our chauffeur would even drive me. I often went as a pirate.”

 

Stephen nodded, “My father was very stern. It was always about work or studying. Christmas was allowed, and Easter. “ _But Halloween is heathen”,_ he always said. So I was never allowed, we – the Strange-children – were never allowed, even if some of the children in our neighbourhood were. There were not so fancy costumes then. An old jacket and an old hat – and you were 'Chaplin'. A skirt and a diadem made from glass-beads – and you were a 'princess'. But my father found it a waste of time – and we were never allowed. I see those children now – some of them dressed as pirates or dinosaurs. Some like Batman and Superman from the comics. Some even like Thor and Hulk...

 

Tony interrupted, “... and some even like Iron-man with small glowing 'arc-reactors' on their chests. They are never Loki though.”

 

And the two men smiled at each other and then Stephen said, “Arc-reactor – that reminds me of something.”

 

And he rose and went to the wall where he made a portal to the library. Before he entered, he stopped and said, “Stop ogling my ass, Tony.”

 

Tony was lying on the bed, naked and even if he wasn't twenty any-more, his cock had begun to swell a bit again, by the delicious sight of Stephen's backside.

 

Tony laughed, “Do you ask the Sun to stop shining? How can I not ogle your ass, Stephen? It is a very nice ass, two firm perfect globes. And I know there is a heaven in between them for me. So how can I not look? Hmm?”

 

Stephen turned around, and then he made a parody of a Victorian Lady and placed his hand on his chest, “But, Mister Stark. Are you saying that you are taking me because of my good looks and not my money at all?”

 

Tony nodded, “Yes....your good looks. And your money. All 15$!”

 

Stephen just shook his head and walked into the library and returned with a book. He placed it between them and pointed at a page.

 

“I have thought about showing this to you, since we found it, but then things ...altered. So...have a look.”

 

And he pointed at a picture in that very old book: parchment and worn by age.

 

Tony looked at the worn pages and said, “Why is there a picture of my 'arc-reactor' in that very ancient book?”

 


	5. About Arc-reactors and electricity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things are not as Tony had learned they were - and that explains a lot of mysteries in the world.

_Tony looked at the worn pages and said, “Why is there a picture of my 'arc-reactor' in that very ancient book?”_

 

Stephen smiled and said, “Wrong question. The question is: how did Howard Stark - and later his son - build a copy in metal of  _'The Seal of Tatooms'...”_

 

“The what?”

 

“ _The Seal of Tatooms._ An opening to another universe. And we didn't know. This book was found about two years ago in Kathmandu. We sometimes still find ancient books in hidden catacombs and only recently had Wong time to look through some of them. He showed it to me, because he thought it looked somehow familiar.”

 

“I don't understand. What has this ancient book to do with my fathers invention?”

 

Stephen shook his head, “Maybe nothing – or maybe everything. I told you that sling-rings were for novices and that made me think that I could teach you to use one. And finding out about the origin of the arc-reactor makes me even more sure. Your father and you, Tony, were/are potentials. He was – and you are even more so – able to perform magic with your machines.”

 

Tony frowned, “It doesn't make sense.”

 

“I'll explain. See, Karl Mordo had a good grip about repairing relicts and artefacts. We masters can all do that, but Karl was exceptional good at it. And he invented the sling-rings. Metal of all kinds have magic potential, and is very forgiving if people are learning and not precise enough in their movements. And later Karl did invent a lot of things where Magic Science and Western Science work together. Now I knew that the borders between Western Science and Magic Science become a bit blurred when we are talking quantum-physics and maybe even closer to our level of size. How do we explain how the 'spin' of atomic particles can mirror one another even in labs miles away from each other? Or the experiment with the rats in the identical mazes and their quicker learning..”

 

“Tryon's experiment?”, asked Tony.

 

“No, that was about breeding 'clever' and 'stupid' rats and compare 'nature' versus 'nurture'. No this was about a unseen connection between siblings. A bit like the worthless communication between identical twins. A large group of rats from the same pair of parents, but from different litters were distributed to different laboratories all over the world. In New York, London, Paris, Nairobi, New Delhi, Singapore, Tokyo and LA. The rats ran the maze – identical mazes, first in New York, then in London and so forth. 5 times in each laboratory. And their time was written down. Each time they ran, they ran of course faster. And when they had run their 5 turns, a note was given to the next laboratory, that they could let their rats run. Until the results from LA ended back in New York again. The last result was about 10 minutes faster than the original run.”

 

And Stephen continued, “Since the rats had no time to phone each other or send a telegram – it was conducted in the 30ties, - the only explanation for this significant difference – because it should have been a totally new maze for the rats in the separate laboratories, is that they somehow had a level of communication with each other. Those experiments were never repeated. The World War 2 put a stop to that and after the war ended, it was sort of forgotten. But such a deep level of communication between individuals could explain how people suddenly had bouts of brilliance: two brains or more connecting – creating a synergy-effect. Or – that someone had actually seen this drawing in this old book and somehow connected with your father. That could explain how people could have very vivid dreams and making discoveries in their dreams and remembering them afterwards. A lot of scientists have told about that. Maybe even connecting on the quantum-level.”

 

“Hmm – interesting thought.”, said Tony.

 

And Stephen continued, “Imagine when Karl and his students found out that electricity is magic too, and taps energy from another universe – just like your arc-reactor.”

 

“Explain – I always thought that electricity was electron-movements through a conductive material – pushing each other like a Newton's cradle.”, said Tony.

 

“Yeah. We did think that too. But it turns out that the movements of the magnets compared to the coils of metal and that put up against Earth spinning around itself and around the Sun, and that again spinning around in the galaxy, al that movement are complicated spiral-movements – and that opens up a portal to that other not-inhabited - and rather small universe. And then we have our energy.”

 

Tony frowned, “And what about batteries and lightning and static electricity?”

 

“The explanation is that batteries works because of electron movements......and because metals carry magic. Lightning is static electricity – and spiral movements – air and Earth's movements – and static electricity build up, because of magic in every material, that once were alive: amber, oil, wool.....”

 

“And now we'll have to relearn all we knew about magnetism and electricity?”

 

Stephen laughed, “And now we can explain a lot with 'because magic' – it makes things so much easier!”

 

Tony smiled again, “Are you telling me that if this drawing in this book had been finished, it would draw energy from that other Universe?”

 

“And set the book on fire. Yes. If you do recall your father's blueprints of the first arc-reactor and the later versions, they were not perfect. Only collecting about 10% of the power available. Your versions were so much better – and the palladium and the wibranium did compensate for a lot. You could build it out of ceramics and glass – anything that wouldn't catch fire – and it would still work. Closer to this drawing in design means more power.”

 

“And no more palladium poisoning – would you have saved me before I died from it?”

 

“Of course – but you had to be on the brink of death, Tony, otherwise you would not have worked so hard. I am sorry.”

 

Tony was silent for a moment and the he reached out and touched Stephen's hand, “As I said before. It was worth it. You don't have to keep apologizing. I know why it was done – and we wouldn't be sitting here surrounded by a living breathing World – almost intact – if it hadn't been for all the shit we have experienced – you and me – and Peter – and everybody in the “Avengers”. We are here now. That is what matters.”

 

And then he yawned. He looked a bit puzzled, “I am sleepy. Not often it happens.”

 

Stephen smiled, “Off to bed then. And the Sanctum is shielded, this room has soothing sigils, so no wonder you can finally rest.”

 

Tony pointed at the bed, “You are joining me? And could you be the big spoon?”

 

Stephen looked down as if he first realised now that he was naked, “Should I put on my briefs?”

 

Tony laughed, “If your morning wood would wake me up, it would be a nice way to be awoken. No – please. I want to feel all of you. I've missed that – and I know it is not very nice said about Pepper, but I have never felt so secure as I feel in your arms, Stephen.”

 

“And I in yours. Nice that we can switch roles.”

 

Tony smirked and winked, “And holes!”

 

“You!”

 

__________________________

 

Tony slept peacefully for 5 hours straight – and so did Stephen Strange. When they woke, they had turned in their sleep and were facing each other. It was 8 o'clock in the morning. The longest uninterrupted sleep Tony had slept for months....years. Well, beside the time on Titan and afterwards back on Earth, whilst he had been with Stephen.

 

When Tony opened his eyes, the first thing he saw, was Stephen's sleeping face. Tony felt a jolt of joy running through him. He could have this. He could actually both eat his cake and have it at the same time. Because Pepper was amazing and would allow Tony finally to be together with the only person, who fully understood him – and could soothe his nightmares and soothe his mind.

 

Stephen opened his eyes.

 

“Morning, sleepy-head.”, said Tony and Stephen smiled.

 

__________________________________

 

Tony dressed in is pyjama, T-shirt and dressing gown and Stephen just made some movements and he was dressed in his more normal clothes and not his blue sorcerer attire.

 

“Breakfast here or in my house?”, asked Tony.

 

“Your place, please. I need to talk to Pepper.”, said Stephen and then he looked at Tony, “And you will need a long shower, when your return to your bedroom.”

 

First Tony frowned and then he understood, “Hmmm yes. A very long shower. I see.”

 

 


	6. Happines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper is worried and things are explained. Both Pepper and Tony are told about Clea Strange - Stephen's wife.
> 
> (Creating amniotic bands is not a genetic disposition - and please don't google it. They are very disturbing pictures. I just know about them, because some friend of mine gave birth to a little boy, who was lacking his little finger on his left hand because of amniotic bands)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Wikipedia: Greek distinguishes several different senses in which the word "love" is used. Ancient Greeks identified four forms of love: kinship or familiarity (in Greek, storge), friendship and/or platonic desire (philia), sexual and/or romantic desire (eros), and self-emptying or divine love (agape).

Tony send Pepper a message to make sure she was awake, before Stephen made a portal. They entered the bedroom and then Tony yawned and said, “I really need a shower – if you do not mind?”

And then he left the bedroom.

 

Pepper looked at Stephen, “Did he sleep?”

 

“5 hours straight!”, was Stephen's answer.

 

Pepper smiled, “Wow – I haven't managed that – not even with medication. You really are a miracle, Stephen.”

 

Stephen smiled and then he turned a bit serious, “You had contacted Wong, because you were worried about something and actually could remember an other reality?”

 

And then Pepper told Stephen what she could remember and why she had spoken to Wong.

 

“And one thing more”, Pepper said and hesitated for a moment before she continued, “My mother had a child before me. A girl. She was almost stillborn, but did breathe a few minutes before she died. She was tangled in amniotic bands......”

 

Stephen nodded, but didn't say anything and Pepper continued, “.....when I was born, I had a small underdeveloped little toe on my left foot. Amniotic bands could have been the cause – and then my mother got pregnant a few years after me - a little boy – born way too early and he died. Again the reason was amniotic bands and my mother was advised not to have more children. She had my little brother, though, and he was lacking the tip of his left little finger. It is genetic..”

 

When she didn't say more, Stephen took her hands, “And now you are not sure if the scans can show, if there is something wrong with your little girl?”

 

She just nodded and then she continued, “Tony told me that you used your magic on Titan to see how wounded he was – inside – and...”

 

“You want me to have a look?”

 

“Yes please.”

 

Stephen gave her hands a squeeze, “Anything for you, Pepper. But you will have to close your eyes. The sight of me looking through you with my astral appearance – my soul – is very scaring.”

 

“All right.” - and she obediently closed her eyes.

 

“I am going to lie down on your bed, all right?”

 

She just nodded and then Stephen pushed his soul out of his body and moved so he could look inside Peppers womb. If Tony had looked then, instead of having a shower, it would have looked like something from a horror movie.

 

After a short while, Stephen was back in his body and touched Peppers hands, “You can look now – and she is fine. Look!”

 

And Pepper looked at the image Stephen had made in the air in front of them. It was a detailed and very accurate image of the little girl in Pepper's womb and she looked perfectly fine.

 

“Look..”, said Stephen, “..she is fine. I was never a midwife, nor an obstetrician, but knowing about foster-development is basic knowledge for any doctor. She is fine. Fully formed already. Just needs to grow. - and not a single sign of amniotic bands.”

 

“Thank you”, said Pepper with tears in her eyes.

 

“Anything for you. I am still amazed that you will allow this. I feel like an intruder – like I am breaking up a marriage and...”

 

Now it was Pepper's turn to take Stephen's hands, “You are not breaking up anything. You are so much a better partner for Tony, than I can ever be. Somehow, and this is not nice towards Tony, I feel more like a mother towards him – than a sexual partner. I don't mind the sex – but I can easily live without it. It was never me who initiated sex. It has never been a huge thing in my life. I love him with all my heart, but more as a long time friend, and maybe it was a mistake that we got married. And one thing more. I love Tony Stark – but I hate that he is Iron Man – and that is so unfair. I yelled at him – had an emotional roller-coaster ride, when he left on that space-ship with you. If he had obeyed me – we would not be here today. For me this is the better option. Close to Tony – but not emotionally invested – not more than I was before. Keeping a bit of distance would make it easier to accept the Iron Man part of him.”

 

That was the moment where Tony stuck his head in and said, “Breakfast is on its way – and have you finished talking about something I shouldn't hear?”

 

Pepper reached for him, “Tony – I didn't want to make you worry – and Stephen did look at Morgan and she is fine. So now I can tell you.”

 

She paused and told about the amniotic bands and how her mother had lost two children to that condition. Tony had looked at Stephen and Stephen had said, “She is fine. I have checked.”

 

Tony released a breath, he didn't know he had held and said, “Thank god – and you were so worried alone, Love,..... that is terrible.”

 

And then he realized he had called Pepper 'Love' and looked at Stephen and said, “I am sorry.”

 

“Don't you dare to be sorry for showing your wife affection!”, said Stephen and continued, “I am the intruder here.“

 

Both Pepper and Tony shook their heads and said at the same time, “You are not. You are very much wanted!”

 

And then they smiled at each other.

 

Then they ate breakfast sitting on the bed all three of them, with the tray between them and they talked about a lot of things. Stephen found it easy to talk to Pepper and she couldn't help admiring his intelligence and his looks. She wasn't stupid – far from. But it was seldom that Tony could find an equal to match his level of intelligence. He had found it among the Avengers and their associates: Bruce, Rhodey and Hank Pym, Natascha and Suri from Wakanda. Not that the other Avengers were stupid – but they were not geniuses.

 

But with Stephen he had found a person with a history so much like his own. Both had survived abuse from their father and had faced death so many times. Stephen Strange had been through Hell – and it had not left him bitter or egoistic. It had left him kind and caring. He was such an amazing person – and it didn't hurt that he was exceptionally good looking. Pepper could easily understand Tony's love for that extraordinary man.

 

And she had to say it – because Stephen kept on feeling like an intruder. She reached for his hand and said, “I want you to listen to me, just like Tony did. Now, you are not an intruder. We are just going to be a very unconventional family. Morgan is going to have two fathers and two mothers, an amazing big brother – because Tony is going to adopt Peter – with May's blessing. It would make a lot of things so much easier. Peter have had problems with people not believing that he knew Tony Stark – and then he had problems because some people assumed that Tony was just interested in 'fresh and young meat' – and then Morgan is going to have a bunch of weird and loving and awesome uncles and aunts.“

 

She stopped for a moment and reached for Tony's hand as well, “The love that we feel for each other is easier to explain with ancient Greek terms. Do you two remember them?”

 

They nodded. It had been part of their education.

 

Pepper continued, “What I feel for Tony is 'philia' - friendship and/or platonic desire. Maybe even 'storge' - kinship or familiarity, but not 'eros' - sexual and/or romantic desire. This – you two and me is actually like in the ancient Greece: a man loved his wife – and she carried their child – apart from that she ran her own game and did not see her husband often. He- on the other hand – had his brother-in-arms – a friend he trusted with his life and often had sex with, because they were far from home. Some even said that that love was the pure form.”

 

And Pepper smiled, with a glint in her eye.

 

Stephen shook is head, “And every man back in ancient Athens was supposed to be homosexual and only lie with his wife to make her pregnant. The true love was between two men – yeah I have heard that too. It is of course utter nonsense and many ancient Greek men loved their wives. But yes - sometimes things happens when you think your last breath is being drawn. And yes – I love Tony with all my heart and he loves me. I don't care what it is called. But I am still coming between a wife and her husband.”

 

Pepper smiled again, “We three are just different. If I was more of a sexual being, I wouldn't mind sharing this bed with you too, Stephen. You are not handsome in the same way as Tony is – classical male handsomeness – and he is ageing like fine wine. You are more like a classical statue by one of the old skilled artists. A face you can't forget. Not handsome – but gorgeous.”

 

And she kissed him on the cheek and continued, “But I almost never feel sexual desire. So leaving you and Tony together and let you have, what you had, as the world crumbled and you didn't know how to bring it back. It is not much of a sacrifice for me.”

 

She smiled again and said, “And I know that you must be a good partner. You were married for several years. You didn't break up. Your wife did. And I know there is something amiss with your time-line. There is no way you could achieved what you did in just two years.”

 

Stephen sat in silence and then he just looked at her, “How did you know?”

 

Tony had known about Stephen being married, because Stephen had told it back on Titan – actually in both versions of reality. And now he knew about Stephen's real age.

 

Pepper smiled, “Wong said something and then he thought I hadn't heard. Who was she? Or should I keep my mouth shut?”

 

Stephen shook his head, “Not it is all right. First – I am older than I look. We – sorcerers – have to fiddle with the databases. To explain how we can be 800 years old like TAO was or 500 like Karl Mordo, that is not easy. I was born in 1930 and my data have been altered too. And I have nothing to be ashamed of regarding my marriage – apart from how easily I was deluded. Well, it was in the 80ties. I had been Sorcerer Supreme for more than a decade.”

 

Stephen looked down at his hands and then he continued, “The elder sorcerers had not been happy about choosing me. Some of them had had Karl Mordo as their favorite – and The Ancient One had thought that he should have been her successor for a while. And even Kaecilius...” Stephen looked at Tony, “....the sorcerer who opened the portal to that other dimension, that I told you about on Titan. Even some of the elders had him as their favorite – before he turned to the dark side.”

 

Stephen smiled and Tony smiled back. Another reference to popular movie culture. And the Stephen continued, “So I had to make an extra effort to make them accept me and....”

 

Tony frowned, “Was sawing the Earth from Dormammu not enough?! I bet they couldn't have done it!”

 

“They didn't know the details. Wong didn't even know then. I hadn't told it to anybody – and I didn't want to be chosen out of pity. So, I decided to keep dressing like I had done in Kamar-Taj, but add my own versions. I could have been allowed to dress more like people in New York, having been promoted to be the guardian of the Sanctum here in New York, but I choose not to. I had got used to the Asian clothing. It is very practical and leaves room for a lot of movement. When they finally did choose me, because I was their best option, I was supposed to change from the blue apprentice-clothing to either golden, bright blue or bright green of a skilled master. But I didn't. I kept my blue apprentice-of-the-final-level and added a few golden bands on my sleeves in memory of TAO's clothing and even Kaecilius'. If he hadn't been possessed, he could have been a worthy successor of TAO.”

 

“Possessed?”, asked Tony.

 

Stephen nodded, “Incubi. Small mental demons from another dimension – change peoples personality. And these versions were difficult to detect in time. They were the reason why my friend Karl Mordo tried to kill me and succeeded. He was finally cured and we are friends again.”

 

Tony and Pepper looked at each other – how could Stephen talk so calmly about that?

 

But Stephen just continued, “As a Sorcerer Supreme and as a master you are supposed to teach. So I had a few apprentices. Not my own private, I just helped teaching them, but then this young woman came along. She became my apprentice.”

 

Stephen paused and then he continued, looking at Pepper, “It is a common belief that 'Potentials' – people who can become sorcerers, always have some sort of …..'defect'. Your little toe could be seen as a sign. Karl Mordo had his scars – so had Kaecilius – and TAO. Wong's father had had a split thumb on the hand he later lost and Wong has this birthmark, which looks like an eagle, on his back. And I had my multicoloured eyes and my scarred hands. The young woman - Clea – who had come to the Sanctum to ask for education, had totally white hair and violet eyes without being an albino. She was skilled and intelligent and funny. And I think that the 'thud' as I fell for her, could have been heard all over New York. She loved me back – and long story short – we got married. Were married for 5 years.”

 

He paused for a moment lost in memories and then he continued, “Clea was everything I had dreamt of. At that point Catherine and I had broken up. We had never married – and had sort of grown away from each-other. She is now almost 90 years old – and her mind is shattered. Alzheimer. And the point where she knew what was wrong with her and to the point where she would totally have forgotten about that – well I made sure that it was a short period and she couldn't remember. That was the most merciful thing I could do for her.”

 

He sighed, “Clea was an awesome partner and she soon reached an amazing level of sorcery. Almost my match – and we worked together for 4 years. And then I discovered that she was – a mirage – a pretty glossy picture.........and a demon. She was from another Universe – The Dark Dimension - and Dormammu's niece.”

 

Tony frowned, “The Dormammu, who killed and tortured you more than 2000 times?”

 

Stephen nodded, “That Dormammu. And I had invited his niece into our world. It was extremely dangerous. I had even taught her a lot of our spells. I felt so utterly stupid and betrayed.”

 

Again he paused, lost in memories and then he said, “She had witnessed back then what Dormammu had done to me and had found me utterly interesting. The danger by inviting her into our realm wasn't that big. She had to leave a lot of her powers back in The Dark Dimension to become something close to a human female and even if I yelled at her and kicked her out, she still said that she loved me. I yelled back _that a scientist is not allowed to fall in love with the lab-rats!_ She hadn't expected to fall in love and not at all to stay in our dimension for five years. She told me that the 'false' body, she had made in order to become a human female, was real enough and she wouldn't have stayed, if she hadn't loved me. And then she left. She did return shortly after, because it turned out that while she had been away, her mother, Umma, had taken the throne in The dark Dimension. You could say that Dormammu was an absolute monarch and expected the beings in his dimension to obey him. But Umma was a tyrant – a despot. Killed her own people on a whim. And I agreed on helping Dormammu and Clea. Dormammu had been a valuable allied, keeping bigger monsters away from Earth. So – after we won, and incapacitated Umma in a dimension, where-from she cannot escape - Clea and I agreed on separating as friends. Just – I still love that woman, Clea had created – even if I know she was a forgery and not real at all. She had set me free, though, and had told me to find a partner on my own level -but I hadn't until now.”

 

And Stephen smiled and reached for Tony's hand.

 

“Wow – that is a story for a rainy day.”, said Pepper and continued, “Well. What now?”

 

They had finished their breakfast and Stephen had risen, “I have some work to do – keeping your world safe.”

 

And he smiled at Tony, who smiled back and said, “I am sorry for teasing you back then. You didn't deserve that. But how do you do that?”

 

Stephen explained, “Checking the boundaries towards the other universes and other realms, making sure the sigils and spells are intact, keeping the net around Earth intact – and prayers of an honest heart do help. I know that some people say that religion is dead, because we saw aliens, who were just as powerful as Gods, but somehow a bit disappointing too and most people have to come to terms with the fact that we do have a soul. So a lot of religions are loosing the foundation. There is no need for rejecting religion. Even the false ones, made just to get money out of people, they help too – if people pray of an honest heart. Prayer-mills in the Tibet and Nepal – they do help. People just have to find out that God – the very creator of the Universe – and all the other worlds and dimensions – are just so much bigger that they could ever imagine. And that the Gods, listening to us and helping us, are 'just' angels. We are still most of all protected – even if we at the same time are expected to help ourselves and learn.”

 

Tony frowned, “But how exactly do you do that – checking the spells and sigils?”

 

Stephen smiled and levitated from the floor, “I fly – I can do that without Cloak – or if it is a dimension where I can't be in my physical body, I use my ethereal appearance. My body will have to lie down, though – preferably on a bed.”

 

Pepper and Tony looked at each other – somehow those calmly uttered sentences did show how powerful Stephen was.

 

They nodded at each other after Tony had mouthed 'Dinner'?

 

And Pepper spoke, “Will you be able to join us for dinner, here, around 7 PM?”

 

Stephen frowned, “Yes – but I do not own a nice suit – not any-more.” and then he smiled a bit sadly, “Wong did buy a new one for your wedding, but I didn't need one.”

 

Tony and Pepper nodded and the Tony said, “Jeans and a nice sweater would be all right. But if you need some tailor-made clothing, then go to my tailor 'Alan David'. Say 'Antonio sent me' and if you are lucky they have suits and everything that would fit you like a glove. After all you do have model-measurements.”

 

“You really want to see me in a tuxedo?

 

“Preferably without”, Tony winked, “ – or in a morning suit. Just get what you need.”

 

Stephen smiled, “I will – and yes I'll be here at 7.” and the he opened a portal and disappeared.

 

Tony turned to Pepper, “I don't think I can never thank you enough.”

 

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, “Just keep the world safe. It will be enough. I can understand why you love him. And you can love more than one person. So – did you use all the hot water?”

 

“No – and yes – I still love you too, Pepper.”

 

“I know” and she went for the bathroom.

 

Tony sat down on the bed, “We will have to figure this out by dinner tonight.”

 

And he realised that he, for the first time in his life, was genuinely happy.

 


	7. Dinner and questions about 'which side do Sir hang'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More chapters added and more to come.
> 
> In this chapter we get very important questions answered about which side Stephen's 'crown jewels' are situated. The phrase 'which side do sir hang' is from the world of tailors. Said a bit different in England and in the United States. But the meaning is the same. And of course there are a lot of 'Urban Myths' about the position of said 'crown jewels'.

Stephen turned up at precise 7PM. Wearing a nice pair of jeans, a cashmere sweater in a wonderful blue colour, that brought forward the blue in his eyes. And a bandage on his right hand.

 

They sat down to have an non-alcoholic drink before dinner.

 

“What happened?”, asked Tony worried and made a gesture towards Stephen's hand.

 

“Oh, almost nothing. Just a very minor leak and a very small demon trying to get through. This is not worse than from an angry cat – and I am already healing.”, said Stephen, and began to unwrap the bandage. He was healing, and the wound had only left red marks. Tony just knew how bad it must have been, because he knew how bad his own wound had been as he burned himself in the workshop yesterday.

 

But it was Pepper, who spoke, “Looks as if that 'cat' was rather big – and you would have lost a hand, if you hadn't had your healing abilities.”

 

Stephen looked at his hand and flexed it, “It would have healed with the help of spells, even before I was so good at healing. It wasn't so bad. Nothing more than I might risk on a daily basis taken care of the boundaries to other worlds.”

 

“We are not keeping you away from your duties, are we?”, asked Pepper a bit worried, but Stephen shook his head, “No – this keeping watch, it doesn't take long – not more than a Starbucks time.”

 

“A Starbucks time?” asked Tony.

 

Stephen smiled and pretended he had something in his hand, “Not longer than it takes to sip a large Starbucks latte. And I can afford it now. I walk to the Starbucks only a few houses from the Sanctum, buy a Café Latte, walks back to the Sanctum, enter what dimension is scheduled for today and still have a sip left, when I return.”

 

Tony began to giggle as he imagined Stephen, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, walking weird dimensions, carrying a Café Latte.”

 

“And if you have to fight?”, he asked.

 

“I'll drop it and then I will have to buy a new one, when I return to Earth again.”, said Stephen with a glint in his eyes and a smile.

 

Now Pepper wanted to know, “Why did you say ' _I can afford it now_ ' – what do you mean by that?” 

 

Stephen looked at her, “What I said. We have never starved, because we could have food sent from Kamar-Taj, but we found it increasingly difficult to make 'electronic money' in this digitalised world. One solution was I could get hired to make magic at parties and Wong worked for libraries. We could only tamper a little with the money on our bank-accounts – double the amount by fiddling with the data bases. But increasing it more would make someone ask questions - and we had to pay taxes and water and stuff. We couldn't just turn up on the mayor's office with a bag of gold, could we?”

 

Pepper frowned, “But I thought that you were on the city's payroll?”

 

“We are not official. We do not have a sign over the Sanctum Sanctorum saying, “World Saviours” - thank God – because in that case people would turn up in thousands asking for minor miracles, if they knew what we could do and we would be so busy doing that, that we wouldn't have time to keep the world safe. When Tony found out that we couldn't even afford a sandwich, he messaged F.R.I.D.A.Y and arranged for the Sanctum to be on Stark's payroll and give a message to Wong about that. While we were on that Q-ship. Since then we have had no problems. Thanks again, Tony.”

 

“My pleasure.” was Tony's answer.

 

Then Tony frowned and asked, “But the other Sanctums in the world. What about them – and you had to rebuild a lot. How did you find the money? Making balloon-animals doesn't make that much money.”

 

“It was mostly a problem here in New York. In London we have been on the city's payroll since medieval times. In Hong Kong we had some problems as China took over. But New York had the worst problems and had to have resources from the other Sanctums.”

 

Stephen turned his head and addressed Pepper, We - the sorcerers - have tampered with our files. I am a lot older than I look. I told Tony. Did you know?”

 

Pepper nodded, “He told me a bit about it.”

 

Stephen nodded and continued, “And rebuilding the Sanctums? It was in the beginning of the 70ties. Not so difficult to tamper with paper-files then. It wasn't so difficult to find houses for the new Sanctums. Every big city has 'haunted' houses, which can be bought for very little money. They are usually 'haunted' because they already are connected to other dimensions. And we can easily seal those leaks – and then we have a new place for a new Sanctum.”

 

Both Pepper and Tony nodded in understanding.

 

“You did visit my tailor and found some clothes?”, Tony said and pointed at Stephens sweater and jeans. Those jeans that fit so well and accentuated Stephen's nice ass. So much that Tony had difficulties keeping his eyes away from it. And those legs, which continued forever. The jeans accentuated that too.....Stephen looked so incredibly sexy in jeans!

 

“Hmm, yes. And I hat sort of forgotten how it was to be pampered by an old-fashioned tailor. I was asked: ' _Sir, which side do you hang?_ ' And they took so many measurements that I am sure they did wear out the measure tape.”, Stephen smiled and continued, “It was the elder Mr. David, who made the measurements. He was not even born, when I attended a tailor the last time – in the 50'ties. And as he measured, he mumbled and kept on saying, “This cannot be right” and I got kind of worried. But no reason for that. It turned out that I did fit the measurements of one of their fitting mannequins. To the 'T' – well apart from the length of my legs. They were a fraction shorter then the legs of the mannequin. When Mr. David discovered that, he did send for a lot of clothes and wanted me to try them on.”

 

“So..” Tony asked with a smirk, “.... _to which side do Sir hang_?”

 

Pepper frowned, because she had never heard that expression before and Stephen made a tiny gesture towards his crotch and Pepper frowned and suddenly nodded in understanding and Stephen continued looking at Tony, “As you know, it is impossible for me to 'hang in the middle' and according to myths, I should, being  _intuitive, creative, imaginative_ and _open-minded, '_ hanging to the left', like the majority of men. But I do 'hang to the right' and that makes me more _analytical, logical_ and  _objective._ Just like you, Tony.”

 

Tony smiled and asked Stephen innocently, “Hmm – and do you know what is being said, in urban myths, about 'righties' when it comes to 'family jewels'?”

 

“No”

 

“That they like being at the bottom of things!”

 

Stephen laughed at the innuendo. Because he knew exactly to what, Tony was referring: their preferred position, when they were making love, and both men liked to be penetrated and on the other hand to be the penetrator.

 

Then Stephen turned a bit more serious and said, “ I had claimed, I was one of your distant relatives, Tony, and called myself 'Vincent Stark'. A lot of clothes are going to be sent here. I didn't want them to connect me to Bleecker Street. And not at all to the name 'Doctor Strange'. I hope it was all right?”

 

“Yeah. That is fine.”, said Tony.

 

“You are going to spend a lot of time here anyway.”, said Pepper and now both of them wanted to know, what Stephen had bought.

 

“Well – not so much 'bought' as 'was given'. I now owe 6 pair of jeans. 10 sweaters. Two tuxedoes – and four 3-piece-suits. He insisted on shirts and underwear as well. I am sorry, Tony, but this is going to cost a lot of money, despite I was given half of it for free.”

 

“Worth it. If it is just half as nice as the things you are wearing now.” said Tony with a smile.

 

And then they went to one of the dining-rooms and had dinner. Again Stephen found it easy to talk to Pepper. They talked about various topics, from Pompeji, where a new discovery – a graffiti on a wall – had moved the destruction of Pompeji from 24th of August to 24th of October in the year 79. They talked about the mysteries of Earth: the Plain of Jars in Vietnam and how much bigger the Aztecan kingdom had been, than originally thought and then they talked about Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'. And 'Harry Potter' – of which Stephen didn't know much and they promised each other to watch some movies together. Pepper and Tony did look forward to show Stephen a lot of movies, he either didn't know existed or had been too busy to watch. Right now things were not so busy.

 

“I think we have been given a bit of time to rest.”, said Stephen and continued, “The Deities must have felt a bit embarrassed about the mistake they had made – believing that we had had 5 million of years to develop – and blaming us for not having developed further, just to discover that we had barely had 150.000 years. Now they are impressed – but I think they do understand that we might need some time to rest, to be able to reach the next level of development.”

 

After dinner they went to one of the living rooms on top of the Stark Tower, with a stunning view over the city and had a cup of coffee – that is, Pepper couldn't stand the smell nor the taste, so she had tea. Not that she would mind that 'her gentlemen' drank coffee, she found the taste worse than the smell. And it was nice sitting there, looking out on the night sky in silence. After a while Pepper asked, prompted by Stephen's false name at the tailors, why his name was 'Strange'. She told that her name - Potts – had originated from some of her ancestors being 'potters' and that name had sort of stuck – even as they immigrated to the US in the 19th century.

 

Stephen smiled and said, “It is actually a funny story. My ancestors came from Slovenia and Croatia – as far as I know. My branch of the family immigrated in the 18th century. Mostly because of persecution because of their version of Christianity. They ended up in Pennsylvania first. Came to small settlements and worked mostly as carpenters and weavers. But my direct ancestors were farmers. And they moved to Nebraska to be able to buy farmland. There are still some of the other branches left in mostly Pennsylvania and Ohio and they have kept the original name 'Stranko' – But my branch changed their name to 'Strange'. Mostly it was a sort of endearment in the beginning. _“Oh – that would be those newcomers – that funny name – 'Strange' or something.”_ And then my ancestors just took the name 'Strange' as theirs. Most of them stayed in Nebraska. Some went to the bigger cities like Washington and New York. It is easier to pronounce the name 'Strange' after all – even if a lot of jokes sometimes are made. My father and mother were relatives. Something like cousins 4 times removed.”

 

“Well...” began Tony, “.....my family came from Germany. And why they were given that name, which means 'bold' or 'strong' – I haven't got the faintest. They came in the 18th century and stayed most of all here on the East coast. Didn't move further West than Indiana or Kentucky. They were most of all farmers and tradesmen. My great-great-grandfather was the first to get a higher education. He became a lawyer as far as I remember.”

 

“Well – no one of us can claim to have Native-American blood in our veins.”, said Stephen and continued, “We came here and stole their land and I have met ancient American deities and had quite some explanations to do. I was accepted in the end, but I still sometimes have to go places and make those ancient spirits calm down and sometimes ask people, now living in houses, build on sacred land, how to behave and how to pacify those old spirits.”

 

Tony and Pepper looked at Stephen, because they had honestly never thought about ancient Native American spirits being dissatisfied with all those newcomers. Just the thought that there were ancient Native American deities was somewhat disturbing. Just like the thought of other deities had been.

 

“Have I offended any of those Gods?”, wanted Tony to know.

 

Stephen shook his head, “No – not as far as I know.”

 

And then he continued, “The deities from these East-coast-states are only few and had sort of accepted that new people moved in. You see – in the 15th century – shortly before Columbus 'discovered' America and hordes of European people came and settled down, there had been an epidemic compared to 'The Plague' or 'The Black Death' in Europe in the 14th century and later. It had not been Yersina Pestis here in America, but something similar. In Europe the plague killed more than 200 million people. Something similar here killed almost 85% of the population. Leaving villages empty and fields uncultivated. The trees took back the fields and the houses disappeared. That was the almost empty forest-land the settlers found, when they arrived and moved further West, chopped down the trees only seldom to find traces of earlier settlements. So yes. We stole land in the West. But here on the East-coast? And as far as Kentucky and Indiana? A lot of it was barren-land, where no one had lived for decades. We did push those few who still lived here away – and that is still something that we have to make amends for. But those gods are not mad at us – but the rest sometimes are.”

 

Tony nodded, “You will have to say if there is something we can do. I already support education in the reservations, but somehow I think it is not enough.”

 

“I'll find out if there is more to be done. But we are up against years of suppression and unfair and cruel laws. They are not altered over-night.”, said Stephen.

 

And then Pepper and Tony looked at each other and nodded, because, Pepper and Tony had something important to say to Stephen.

 

Pepper began, “Tony and I have talked this afternoon – about some arrangements. So please just listen, Stephen. So – I am moving out of the master bedroom and...”

 

“I am not going to...”, began Stephen, but Tony just reached out and touched his hand and said, “Please listen, Love.”

 

And then he looked at Pepper and she smiled and said, “I don't mind that you show your affection towards Stephen. After all, I suggested it, right?” and she continued, “So – there are lot of rooms on that floor, apart from the master bedroom. A lot of guest-rooms just as big as the master bedroom. So I am just moving a bit down the hall. There is this big bedroom next to a smaller one. And this will be my bedroom, the smaller on will be the nursery and two other rooms will be for the nannies. Tony and I want you to be Morgan's godfather – if it is all right with you – and you can stay here in the Stark Tower as along as you are able to. Not that you will need the elevators or taxies to get to the Sanctum. We just want you to be a part of Morgan's life too. That is....if we are not asking too much of you, Stephen?”

 

Stephen was silent for a moment before he answered, “No...not at all. I'm just flattered, I think. And I still have problems getting to understand that I can have this. I'm just a bit over whelmed, I guess. But yes – thank you to all of it.”

 

And brightness of the smile on his face could compete with the sun.

 

“Well. I am tired and off to bed. The blessings of a pregnancy. “, said Pepper and rose and went over to Tony and gave him a good-night kiss on his forehead. And then she looked at Stephen and asked, “OK?”

 

And as he nodded, she gave him a kiss too. “Good-night” both Tony and Stephen said and looked after her, as she left the room.

 

“She really is a remarkable woman”, said Stephen.

“She really is.” agreed Tony and then he smiled at Stephen, rose and reached for his hand, “Tired? Or do you want to see which way I hang?”

 

Stephen rose too and said, “I know for sure that you are too big to hang in the middle and according to myths you do hang to the right, like me.”

 

 


	8. Getting closer and answering some very important questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sex - and rimming - and the benefits of having sex with a sorcerer.

In the bedroom that now were theirs, as Pepper had already arranged for her clothes to be moved, Tony began to undress Stephen. They were standing in the middle of the floor and Tony slowly removed Stephen's blue sweater and the T-shirt underneath and then he kissed and caressed Stephen's nipples. Stephen sighed and bend down to catch Tony's mouth so they could kiss.

 

“You are much to tall.”, complained Tony and then Stephen knelt down – gracefully as ever – on the floor and nuzzled his face into Tony's groin and then he looked up at Tony with a smirk, “It was easy to do something about my hight. And now I can find out ' _to which side Sir hang_ '. And this is so much easier to do when you are wearing your track-suit.” and Stephen began to unfasten Tony's trousers and tuck them down, while he at the same time used his face and mouth to touch the rapidly growing bulge in Tony's pants.

 

“Hmm.” sounded Stephen's deep voice, “I thought so. _Sir do hang to the right_.” as he kissed Tony's erection through the thin fabric.

 

Tony closed his eyes and threw his head back and used the still functioning part of his brain to wonder how Stephen could know exactly which buttons to press to turn Tony so much on?

 

And his knees buckled and he would have fallen, if Stephen hadn't caught him and supported him, as Tony felt Stephen's mouth and throat around his cock. How could Stephen do that? Had he no gagging-reflex?

 

Somehow they ended on the bed, both totally naked – and when had that happened? Tony on his stomach and Stephen draped over him, kissing his way down Tony's spine and further down. Spreading Tony's arse-cheeks.

 

Tony yelped, “No matter how much I like this – stop Stephen. I haven't had an enema and I am not totally clean!”

 

“You will be.” , said Stephen and did something. Tony felt a warmth and then he laughed, “Did you just give me a magic enema?”

 

“I did, “ sounded Stephen's voice before he pushed a pillow under Tony's hips and took a firm grip around Tony's arse-cheeks and bend down and gave Tony a lick and a kiss on that very clean orifice. And Tony's body was put on fire.

 

Even if Tony had been with men before – in his youth – it was Stephen who had shown him this particular activity – in practice. Back then in the other reality – and Tony had loved it. He had never thought that someone touching and sucking and licking his arse like that, could bring him so close to orgasm in almost no time. It was heaven!

 

“Stephen...stop. I'm going to...” Tony panted and Stephen stopped. Tony turned around, lying on his back and lifted his legs and looked very sternly at Stephen, “If you don't come here and put your lovely big cock inside me right now, I will not guarantee for the consequences.”

 

“Oh...so we are topping from the bottom, are we?”

 

Tony smiled, “Yes – just as you like it and just as I like it. So come on. Hit your target and make it swift.”

 

“Ay, ay sir”, and then Stephen eased his way inside Tony. Tony had once asked if Stephen could make them to be self-lubricating, just like a woman, but Stephen had smiled and said that it would be too much effort to change a body's biology. “I can't put glands where glands not would be naturally. But I can move the lube form the bottle on the night-stand to your arse with a flick of my fingers. There is no need for that, though, when it is just as easy to take the bottle and open it.”

 

This time Tony could feel that Stephen's magic had fetched the lubricant, because the slide in didn't take much adjustment. Tony was open and relaxed after Stephen's licking and sucking, but there was some added slickness.

 

“So much for rules.”, managed Tony to pant and Stephen understood immediately and said, “Needs must, when the devil drives. The bottle is too far away.”

 

And then the two men didn't bother talking any-more. Just enjoyed the feeling of each other and their closeness and the feeling that build inside, caused by the thrusting of Stephen's strong body and the slide in and out of Tony's hole and Tony's response: his spreading his legs even further and the lovely friction of his cock against Stephen's body and now...oh lovely – Stephen's hand and with a shout and a shudder Tony saw stars, because Stephen with his anatomical knowledge did angle his thrusts against Tony's prostate – again and again until everything exploded in a wave that was cold and warm and so utterly wonderful at the same time. And Tony was so far gone, that he almost didn't notice that Stephen came too.

 

When Tony came to his senses, Stephen was snuggled up against him, one leg draped over Tony's legs and his left arm draped over Tony's chest. And not one trace of stickiness or lubricant.

 

“Magic again, Love?”

 

“Mmmm...it is easier sometimes – and I am well rested and can use a little magic to heighten the level of comfort.”, was the answer. “And I prefer to be able to look into your beautiful eyes, when we are making love. And that position do require a bit more lube.”

 

Tony shook his head, “I am not the handsome one here...”

 

Stephen lifted his head and said, “You are, Tony. I am a bit weird looking and can pass for somewhat handsome from certain angles. I know, how I look. I have seen my face for so many years. But you, Tony, your eyes are the kindest and most beautiful, I have ever seen. And they fit to the rest of you. You are ageing like fine vine. I suppose that some people in your youth would have said that you looked a bit like a girl – as if it should be terrible – They said that about me anyway. But now? You are one of the handsomest men I have ever met.”

 

Tony just kissed him. And they moved so they both were more on their backs. Tony took one of Stephen's hands and looked at it. And said, “I still think you are extremely handsome. Your face and your body and your elegant hands. They were beautiful before too. Still elegant despite the scars. And I have never understood how you could make all those intricate movements. So refined. But...” Tony turned and looked at Stephen's face, “....you told me on Titan in 'Reality 1' that they had been healed long time ago. But why did they still shake then?”

 

“I kept the scars after Agamotto healed them. I couldn't become TAO's apprentice if my hands were so malfunctioning. After the car-accident and before I became TAO's apprentice, my hands would either hurt so much, that I couldn't think – and would wish they had been amputated. I learned to accept the pain and live with it. Just like people with chronic pains learn to do. And then - over time, sometimes just hours or days - the pain would fade. And reach a level where I could live with it. Then the tremor would return. Sometimes so bad that I couldn't eat, let alone shave myself and hardly dress. When I came to Kamar-Taj TAO gave me a choice: she couldn't heal both aspects, so I had to choose. I used that whole late autumn and the winter until early spring, to find out which aspect I would want to have healed. It turned out to be a illusion. She could have healed them, she just wanted me to change from the arrogant arse, I still was, as I left New York – with destroyed hands – to the man I became in Kamar-Taj. Just, she didn't see that I had already changed as I finally reached Kamar-Taj. The things I had seen in Calcutta – in the slum there – the undeserved kindness I had met amongst the poorest people – that had already changed me.”

 

Stephen took a deep breath and looked at Tony, “It turned out that bringing her her tea every afternoon and our conversations, where she turned my world upside-down – just as I did to yours on Titan, when I returned after the Snap, it was the first part of my education as her personal apprentice. And then I accepted to continue my education. I declined first – because my hands would wreck havoc with their trembling movements. She told me that it wasn't my hands, which was the problem, but the image of them in my mind and another problem was my shattered and damaged mind, because of all the trauma I had experienced as a child and teenager. My hands were healed – but the broken image of them in my mind, it would take years to heal. They never fully healed until Titan. And I kept the scars on my skin to remind me of not being arrogant again.”

 

Tony caressed Stephen's hands and kissed them, “They were still beautiful even with the scars. But how – I mean..”

 

And Tony turned and touched Stephen's face, “...How did you manage to use them? In all aspects of life, if they never truly healed until recently?”

 

“I used magic – even for..” and Stephen hesitated, before he continued, “...even for purposes where I was not supposed to use my magic energy.”

 

He laughed a bit, “That was one of the reasons why I rather quickly learned how to use my ethereal appearance to control real matter – like books, so I could turn the pages and...”

 

And suddenly Tony understood, “....and to masturbate? But I thought you were – monks?”

 

“What gave you that idea? We were not supposed to live in celibacy. But it was of course frowned upon if a superior did have a relationship to a minion. I think TAO never had any interest in a romantic relationship for two main reasons: she was old – and then I think her master did something to her. It was a part of the education – the contract as apprentice. _'To forgive the unforgivable' –_ it didn't take me long to forgive TAO. She had just not done anything to prevent my car-crash and then she had given my colleagues nightmares, so they would operate less skilfully on my hands. I told her I wouldn't have listened to her if she had warned me and that it was my own fault that my colleagues couldn't use the 'robot' to its full capacity. There were two levels of operating the device. And I had hidden the second and best option and kept if for myself.”

Stephen stopped and looked at his hands, “Karl Mordo was TAO's apprentice – and he had to forgive her for just saving him and not his family. I do not know what she did to Kaecilius – he was her apprentice too. But I know that she got her scars on her head, because of what her master had done to her, and it had something to do with her body as well. She had scars there too. But back to your idea about us being monks. I was in a relationship with Karl, after I had become TAO's apprentice. Not that we ended up in bed together so often – we were busy – but it was accepted. We have even had pregnant masters. They need a bit more protection – and sometimes not at all. Depending on how much their child was a potential or not.”

 

Stephen hesitated and looked at Tony and touched his face, “I told you about how big our Universe is – and that there are other dimensions beside ours..”

 

“You did.”

 

“Some of those dimensions are weird and very different from ours – like Dormammu's realm. But there are other Universes very much like our own. Agamotto – the angel, who is able to travel from the lowest levels – close to our level – to the highest level and face God, can travel independent of time and space and he is one of the few species, who can travel between Galaxies. And in and out of those other Universes. He – and I only use 'he' because 'he' chooses to appear as a man, when he is in a sort of human body. He needs something to show him that he has chosen the right reality – the reality where he is responsible for us. Being our guide, guard and mentor. That is why he used the Time-stone to sort of tether himself to this specific reality. Therefore the name 'Eye of Agamotto' and he was at the same time a part of the 'three-fold-god Vishanti'. Not that they never claimed to be the Creator itself. They were just above the other deities: Infinity, Eternity, Death and Entropy.”

 

Tony frowned, “What are you trying to tell me?”

 

“That there are universes where I have children. Where I and Catherine got married and I never became Sorcerer Supreme. But my sons or daughters did. Those world are more different from our Universe now. Dormammu happened later and Thanos never. But 'Ego' succeeded – that is another story for another day. Then there are Universes where Clea and I had children. Half demon – half human. In some of them it went well – in others not. Then there are universes where I did not exist at all. And they still continue, because Dormammu or Thanos never happened either. There are an almost infinite amount of universes out there. But they are very difficult to visit. We are not supposed to go there – and are not supposed to know about them. And they were thought into existence by the very mind, that made our Universe as well. So...that is how huge and enormous and incomprehensible GOD is.”

 

Tony looked at Stephen, “Wow....and they can not interfere with each other?”

 

“Not at all. When we know a bit about it, is because Dormammu's dimension or other weirder dimensions, sometimes touch. And informations get through. I have met one of my daughters and two of my sons. Not in their Universe – in places in-between. It was weird to meet them. But at the same time nice. I have no wish to meet them again. They were very different from me – mentally and bodily. Truly from another Universe.” 

 

The two men were silent for a while and then Tony asked, “I am a bit sorry for bringing this up, but I am curious. And you had told me that you were abstinent while....you and I...didn't. I mean...”

 

Stephen laughed, “Are you trying to ask me if I had sex, while you and I were not together, because you were with your wife?”

 

Tony blushed a bit, “Yes – I think I am.”

 

“And you are curious if and how I had sex before we met and before we learned to know each other closer on Titan in 'Reality 1'?”

 

Tony blushed even more, “I know! I know...it is none of my business.”

 

Stephen kissed him and then he laid back again and said, “I don't mind sharing with you. Just...sometimes we were taught to channel our sexual energies towards other activities. Not that it was expected that people lived in celibacy, nor were sexual activities forbidden. It is just – 'sex' is after all on the third story of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and being busy fighting otherworldly demons and monsters doesn’t leave much time for such activities. But I did learn to 'help myself' if the urge got too strong. I just needed a bit more...stimulation.”

 

Tony frowned, “What do you mean?”

 

Stephen rose and said, “We'll have to go to the Sanctum. I can't show you here.”

 

Tony got up too and said, “You are not telling me that Cloak...?”

 

“No way. But I have things in my wardrobe there. I haven't used them for a long time. But when I said 'pain is an old friend' I wasn't joking.”

 

And with those words Stephen made a portal and walked through it. And Tony hesitated for a moment. Admiring Stephen's nice arse. And Stephen's elegant movements. Tony had often been told that he moved like a dancer. Had the posture of a dancer – but he had never been allowed to dance. 'To bloody feminine for a boy. Only for fags.”, had his father said. But it didn't prevent Tony from rehearsing himself. There were videos and tutorials and Howard Stark was often away. Tony wondered briefly if Stephen had ever danced? His movements indicated that he had – but maybe it was just the hard exercising at Kamar-Taj. Martial arts were sometimes like dance.

 

“Are you coming?”, asked Stephen as he turned and waited for Tony.

 

“On my way.”

 

 


	9. Two boxes with secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well. Ideas keep coming into my mind. More chapters to come. At least 3 more. 
> 
> "Dr. Yong's ideal rectal dilators" are a real thing. Try to google it.

In his bedroom Stephen went to his wardrobe. He opened it and said, “It's just me. Go to sleep.” and Tony was a bit confused until he remembered Cloak.

 

The Stephen rummaged a bit around until he returned with a rather big box and made a gesture towards his bed.

 

“Come and sit down, please, Tony.”

 

And before he took the lid of the box, he looked at Tony and explained, “I suppose this happened because some wires got crossed in my mind and body. I don't know if I was born with this possibility or if it was awoken by the way I was brought up – with corporal punishment. I just know that I have always, since I discovered sex, enjoyed a bit of pain.” and then he opened the box. There were items in there for inflicting light pain: nipple-clamps, with and without chains and something that looked like small clothes-pegs, but made of metal.....and whips and floggers. And some smaller items made from straps of leather.

 

Tony touched the items, that Stephen had placed on the sheet, as Stephen explained, “These are of course the modern versions. It wasn't so easy to get things like that back in the 50ties, 60ties and 70ties.”

 

“You are a masochist?” Tony wanted to know.

 

Stephen smiled, “Don't get it wrong. I didn't enjoy being tortured by Ebony Maw. Or Dormammu for that matter. But this was a way to cope with the pain from my hands. Direct the pain to a different place and it gets manageable. And I did experiment with pain before I destroyed my hands.”

 

Stephen paused and touched the items, “I stole clothes-pegs from the bathroom and I had leather belts in my trousers. After my father had punished me, I was always sent to my room to 'think about my sins' alone. Well – I used the time to experiment and masturbate. Sitting or lying in my bed, so I could feel the throbbing from the welts my father had inflicted on me. Sometimes I would even add more, flogging myself with a flogger I had made out of yarn, that I had braided into hard braids. No one would notice if I had some extra welts. And I would flog myself – only to make welts, not drawing blood – and masturbate at the same time. Sometimes even putting clothes-pegs on my nipples.”

 

Stephen looked at Tony, “Am I giving you a shock, admitting that I am indeed a freak?”

 

Tony shook his head, “Being a masochist is not being a freak. I had just never imagined that you would enjoy pain, thinking of your background, that's all.”

 

Stephen nodded and showed a small item, made of several leather-bands. “I experimented with delayed orgasm as well, binding my testicles down and away form my body. But it would require that I shaved...and then I would have some explanation to do...in the showers after PE in school.”

 

He looked out into the air, lot in his memories and said, “It is a bit funny. No one battered an eye-lid seeing welts on a boy's body, but they would have noticed if he shaved his testicles.”

 

Then he returned to the present and continued, “When I lost my family and was on my own at University, I did shave or wax my groin for a while and continued my experiments with the thin line between pleasure and pain. And then I stopped doing that. Questions would have been asked if anyone discovered what I did. I had a girlfriend and a boy-friend, well...not at the same time, but we were very discrete. We had to be. In the 50ties you only shagged a girl, if you wanted to marry her. And you most certainly didn't fuck a boy or a man, if you didn't want to end in jail.”

 

Stephen shook his head and continued, “Then I got my MD and PhD at the same time and was offered a position at the Metro General Hospital. I met my Catherine and we became colleagues – competitors – friends - and in the end 'friends-with-benefits' as the modern term would be. I didn't experiment at that time. I was too busy being their top surgeon and buying half the world. Mostly to fill the void inside me - and when I and Catherine had time for sex, we did prefer 'vanilla'.. We were engaged at a point, but then decided that we were better for eachother as friends.”

 

Stephen paused, “And then, when I was the most famous – both for being the top-most skilled neurosurgeon in the world – and the biggest arrogant arsehole too– I thought I could fly – or at least drive a fast car and looking at journals at the same time, - I crashed and woke up with lacerations all over my body, two black eyes and two destroyed hands. In the second of the impact, I had managed to create a protection-bubble around me. Using magic I didn't know I had. But the bubble didn't cover my hands. That is why the rest of me was relatively unharmed and my hands were crushed. My colleagues performed miracles and saved my hands, even if I carried a Hoffman-apparatus for months and they had used experimental surgery by giving me artificial joints of titanium and very tiny rods that kept my fractured bones in my fingers and hands together, and all that miracle-surgery could be seen on my hands. Scarred all over.”

 

Stephen looked at his hands, “And now? Nothing to be seen any-more.”

 

Then he looked at Tony, “So if I forget to be humble and start being an arsehole again, would you remind me of my duties? I don't want to be that arsehole again.”

 

Tony crawled over all the items and hugged Stephen, “I think you were an arsehole to protect yourself. A very common defence mechanism, right?” and he pointed at himself, “ _A genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist” -_ that is what I called myself and could have added, “ _an abused child, hiding behind a mask of arrogance...and later behind 'good deeds'_ ”. Never daring to show his true self. Always afraid of failing. Always aiming for love from his father – the respect from a man, who would never be satisfied and show any kind of love or respect, nor say, “You did a good job, son”. Am I right?”

 

Stephen kissed him back and said, “I love you so much, Tony. And yes – we are survivors. Of mental and corporal abuse. With jarred edges that fit together. My god – I never thought I would find someone like you.”

 

And they kissed again.

 

Tony yawned, “I am sorry and I would, if I was twenty, very much like to see you use some of those items, if you were up to it, but I am an old man and for the first time, well apart from yesterday, not fighting with insomnia. So – sleep?”

 

Stephen smiled and put all the items back in the box. “OK with me. I am not exactly twenty any-more either.”

 

And then he smirked, “And I have one box more to show you. But it can wait to tomorrow.”

 

Tony shook his head, “No way. Even if I think that the thought of you using these items and the thought of one box more would give me nice dreams – wet dreams, I would like to see the rest. I might either worry too much – or get too much turned on.”

 

“Well..”, said Stephen and rose and went to the wardrobe, “....it was not easy to get these items back in the late 60ties. But I hadn't used all my money and I didn't want to go to brothels, so rather be a DIY person. So – there were places to go here in New York, where a man could get a shave of his face – and a wax-treatment of other parts of his anatomy – even if it was most of all women, who had that. Most of all women working in the high-end sex-industry or as chorus-girls. Their costumes wouldn't allow for much hair in that area.”

 

Stephen returned with another box, “I haven't used it for ages. And looking at it now is somewhat embarrassing. Those things, you can buy now, are of a much better quality. These are almost antique.”

 

And he showed Tony the contents: a box of 8 butt-plugs of various sizes made of metal and two long hollow cylinders.

 

Stephen pointed at the box with butt-plugs and said, “Well – they are a more modern and more sanitary version of “Dr. Young's Ideal Rectal Dilators” - the first set was sold in 1893 – and it was made of hard rubber back then. Not easy to clean.”

 

“And they could, according to advertising, apparently _cure constipation, promote more refreshing sleep, could relieve foul breath, bad taste in the mouth, sallow skin, acne, anaemia, lassitude, mental hebetude, insomnia, anorexia, headaches, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, flatulence, indigestion, nervousness, irritability, cold extremities and a lot of other things_.”, said Stephen reading out aloud from the label on the box.

 

Tony looked at them and said, “But they are just butt-plugs?”

 

Stephen smirked and said, “And designed to stimulate the prostate. Don't you think it would have made a lot of men happier?”

 

“Oh God – a bit like the treatment for 'hysterical women'? The cure: a doctor-induced orgasm? Oh I remember reading about that.”, Tony said with a laugh.

 

“Well it did help”, said Stephen and continued, “And when I became a doctor, it was just something from medical history, we could laugh at, just like blood-letting and radioactive ointments. This set is from the late 40ties and is a set I found in a pawnshop together with other old medical instruments. I don't think the man had even looked in the box, because as the sexual climate was then, I think he would have thrown it away – blushing.”

 

Stephen touched the dilators, “I liked that they were made of metal. Easier to sterilize and I could play with temperature as well and increase the sensations.”

 

“And this?”, asked Tony and pointed at the cylinders – now actually a bit turned on by the thoughts of Stephen using those dilators on himself. The biggest was, well 'big' – thicker than Tony's cock and the thought of Stephen being stretched around that thick rod, made Tony quite awake and his cock twist with a bit of interest.

 

“Well – I think the modern term is 'flesh-lights' – you just put your cock inside - and in one of the cylinders it is glass-beads, which stimulates and in the other just soft padding. They can even be made vibrating by adding an electrical devise to it.”

 

Tony looked at him.

 

“What? I couldn't use my damned hands. What was I supposed to do?”

 

“I am not looking condemning at you.”, said Tony, “....it is just pathetic that modern medicine hasn't found a better way to help – well - _handicapped_ – people to obtain pleasure from sex. I see there is an underdeveloped market there.”

 

Stephen smiled a bit, “Sorry for jumping to conclusions. But it did work for me – at least when I still was in a state of mind, where I could enjoy sex and still had a home. I ended up in a bed-sit and later in a place for home-less and even later in the streets and under bridges, just like a lot of homeless people in New York. I used every cent I had – and a bit more – on useless treatments. I had borrowed money on the 'grey market' and then on the more 'black market' and finally my bank declared me bankrupt and I had to sell everything. I was allowed to keep a few personal items and Catherine had promised to keep a box or two in her attic. Boxes containing – among other things – 'old medical instruments'. I am glad she never looked in them.”

 

Stephen looked at Tony, who chuckled at the thought and then Stephen continued, “Well – when I returned to New York and finally became Sorcerer Supreme, I turned up at her apartment and asked for my boxes. She gave them back to me together with a kiss – and we stayed friends after that. I wanted to pay her back for her kindness and for the money she had lent me, but she refused. Said it was reward enough to see that I was coping.”

 

Stephen smiled a bit sadly, “I wasn't present at her wedding in 1968. I was still in hospital. I didn't see her daughter being born in '69, because I was in Kamar-Taj – but later I followed and helped if it was necessary. But I saw little baby Christine being born in 1989 – Amanda, Catherine's daughter was very young and still in college, when she gave birth to her. And Catherine helped raising her. I suppose that was one of the reasons Christine wanted to be a doctor.”

 

Tony touched his hands, because he could see that Stephen was a bit lost in his memories, “Bed?”, Tony asked and hurried to continue, “.....for sleeping. I am actually a bit tired.”

 

Stephen nodded, “Here on in the Stark Tower?”

 

“Stark Tower – my toothbrush is there – and one for you.”

 

Then he hesitated and pointed at the remaining things on the bed and on the things in the box on the floor, “It doesn't mean that I am not interested in trying some of those items out, tomorrow – if you are up to it?”

 

Stephen smiled back with an interesting glint in his eyes – and his cock showed an interest too as it swelled a bit, “Definitely!”

 


	10. A morning kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That high-end sex-shop do exist. Or at least the butt-plug with matching cuff-links. Oh - the search history of a writer. One day someone is going to look at it and wonder.
> 
> I just changed the name and location (not knowing anything about New York)

In the Stark Tower – in their bathroom, they brushed their teeth, used the toilet and put on their boxer-briefs – and then Tony noticed something.

 

“Those briefs of yours – they look a bit different?”

 

Stephen looked at them and said, “Yeah – new model. Promoted by your tailor. Makes the question about 'which side' a bit superfluously. There is a pouch inside for your cock and balls. A bit like a bra – keeps everything in place and safe. Very comfortable.”

 

Tony laughed, “Like a bra?”

 

“You should try them on.”

 

And Tony did, because Stephen had brought a lot of those new versions to his new bedroom.

 

And as the two men crawled under the duvet, they were both wearing the new version – for two reasons: Tony wasn't sure he could keep his hands and other body-parts from Stephen, if Stephen was naked and Tony really, really needed to sleep. And second reason– they were very comfortable.

 

_________________________

When Tony woke the next morning, Stephen had left their bed. He had written a message on the pillow for Tony to find. It said in glowing letters: _“I am sorry, but Wong contacted me in the middle of the night, with some urgent matters. I didn't want to wake you up, because you were sleeping so well – no nightmares, so I got up without waking you up. I don't know if I might be able to return tonight. But I am not in danger, if you should worry. Just having a bit too much administrative obstacles to fight. There is a spell with a kiss, when you have read this. Just close your eyes and kiss the pillow. It will not be a total illusion. Morning breath is not easy to copy ;-)”_

 

Tony smiled and kissed the pillow – and it felt like Stephen's mouth and Tony could even feel Stephen's long elegant hands cradle his head. He kept his eyes closed and whispered, “Good morning, Love.”

______________________

In the dining room he found Pepper, who was sitting eating breakfast. The period of time, where she had had morning sickness, was apparently over.

 

Tony hesitated for a moment – but they had all agreed that signs of affection was OK, so he went to her and kissed her on the cheek and said, “God morning, Love.” before he sat down.

 

“Morning, sweetheart.”

 

And then she looked around, “Where is Stephen?”

 

“Had some urgent business to attend to – in Kamar-Taj. Wong called in the middle of the night. I didn't wake up though. Stephen had left a – glowing – message for me – and a kiss.”

 

Pepper smiled, “You can't hide it from me, Tony. You are worried.”

 

Tony sighed, “I am – and that is so silly. Because Stephen is as powerful as a god. At least on level with the Asgardians.” - and then Tony laughed, “Do you know that Stephen had Loki captured inside a 'honey-wagon' for days?”

 

“He had what?”

 

“Well – it must be true – because Loki told it himself. It was before Thanos but after the chitauris and Loki's evil deeds here in New York. The sorcerers would allow Thor to visit, but not Loki. As Loki did show up – Thor and he were looking for Odin, who had hidden here on Earth – first in an elder-home here in New York and later in a hut in Norway – Stephen had captured Loki and had cast a spell, so Loki was tethered to that boot in that 'honey-wagon' on a building site near the demolished elder-home. Luckily for Loki on the upper side of the toilet seat and not down in the faeces. Stephen had given Thor the key and Loki had been freed. Later Stephen made Loki fall for 30 minutes – through a lot of dimensions, before Loki landed in the Sanctum, where Thor was waiting. Stephen later admitted that he had been a bit harsh on Loki – but Loki had really pissed Stephen off.”

 

“That is insane – Loki is a god – extremely powerful! How could Stephen do that?”

 

“Well – when we returned from Titan, Stephen was in charge of the team – our team – who tried to identify and pick out the events, we had to alter, to make a new reality. Thor and Loki and the other Asgardians did listen to him. He is the born leader – and he even had the nerve to discuss with the mightiest beings in our Galaxy. He has allies in parallel Universes, allies that are as mighty - or even more - than the mightiest beings in this Galaxy. He is almost a god himself. The best sorcerer Earth has ever had. But if Wong or the others tried to say that to him, he would just shrug and say, “No – that was 'The Ancient One.'”

 

Tony paused and looked at Pepper, “And that man loves me....”

 

Pepper smiled at him, “You are easy to love, Honey. All the shit that was thrown at you – your father, the kidnapping, Obadiah, finding out about your parents and all the villains that tried to kill you – and to kill me. And still you are just kind – considerate – unselfish – and even if it wasn't your fault at all that the Avengers fought – the blame was really to be put mostly on Steven, but on Wanda, Vision, Clint, Natasha and Falcon too, – you still cared about them and didn't use your powers to destroy them. I know they came to you after you returned from Titan – well not Wanda, Vision and Falcon – they were dust. And Steve even knelt and apologized, but the way they had treated you? You could have turned them down and...”

 

“We had a world to save.”, interrupted Tony.

 

“Yeah – you did. But afterwards. When 'Reality 2' was the only reality – you could still have turned them down and refused to give them a place to stay and an organisation to belong to. You sometimes said – and don't deny it, because I have heard it – that you destroyed the 'Avengers'. You didn't. You have a right to refuse to be used as a doormat – you have a right to your own opinion. And you had made the right decision. They had not.”

 

Tony frowned, “But I understood why they did as they did. Their history – their knowledge about how governments can't be trusted. We were lucky that we had Nick Fury. Without him S.H.I.E.LD could have been a new 'H.Y.D.R.A' and our government is not a bit better that the weakest and most corrupt link. It was just at that moment the best decision to sign that contract.”

 

“And they should have trusted your decision. You have run a huge company since you were 22 years old. Not one single time have your employers complained – well apart from those who wanted to take over your company. You know which laws to obey, which to bend and which to downright disobey. You always try to treat your employees decent and encourage your leaders to do so – or they are fired. You have more than 2 .5 million people on your payroll...”

 

“I have?”

 

“Yes. That is almost as many as the united States Department of Defence. More than Walmart, more than the armed forces in a lot of countries. And never one complaint. So – you are good at your job. Very good.”

 

“Or I have hired good people – like you, Pepper.”

 

“That is the same, Tony. You do have an extraordinary flair for making the right decisions. “

 

Tony shook his head, “No...I walk from disaster to disaster. I make so many wrong decisions.”

 

“Which turns out to be the exactly right ones. You are a genius – and not just regarding mechanics. You understand people as well.”

 

She rose, “I can easily understand why Stephen loves you. I love you. Rhodey, Happy – all the Avengers – if they do not love you – at least they respect you and - now – listen to your opinions.”

 

Tony frowned, “But I am not a god. I make mistakes. I have no urge to be the only one listened to. Bruce is a genius, Shuri is, hell – even that white guy Everett, who is a close friend of T'challa's, is a strategic genius too. I would rather be in a team – I do not have brain enough to rule the world alone.”

 

Pepper kissed him, “And that is exactly why you are a good leader. So – now I am off.”

 

“Where are you going? I have some errands in the city too. So lunch together?”

 

Pepper nodded, “Yeah – but May will be there too. We had planned some 'women-stuff' today together.”

 

Tony smiled, “Lunch it is. You decide where and give me a call.”

 

_____________________________

 

When Tony returned to his – their - bedroom, he sat down at the desk and ordered FRIDAY to find the most high-end-shop for advanced sex-toys. He wanted to buy some new stuff for Stephen and for himself....if Stephen was up to it.

 

“It must be LILAH on 5th Avenue. Very discrete. They insist on membership and introductions from members before you can apply.”, said FRIDAY after a few seconds.

 

Tony searched for the site – and liked what he saw. No neon-colours – no cheap stuff. Butt-plugs – gold-plated and with matching cuff-links with the name LILAH on them, so everybody, who knew about it, could guess if that 3-piece-suit guy would be wearing the matching butt-plug up his arse. Tony could easily see the appeal. And not many would have the money for the gold version: 2000$ is after all quite a sum to use on butt-plugs.

 

“Thank you. I'll try my luck and my charm.”, said Tony – a little bit worried. Because whom did he know that could introduce him?

\----------------------

 

He had Happy drop him off close to the shop and intended on walking the last distance. The front of the shop was very discrete. And only advertised for 'Lingerie Française'.

 

Tony opened the door and went to the desk, “I would like to become a member.” , he said.

 

The young woman standing there did try to look confused – but failed and asked, “Member of what exactly, Sir?”

 

Tony smiled at her nicely and looked at her stylish name tag on her blouse, “Nice try, Mademoiselle Deleuran....” - and he briefly wondered if it was her real name.....”But you see, I have been looking at your website – and I liked the – 'adult toys' – I saw there. So I would like to become a member, so I can buy some of your items. They should be of the most exquisite quality.”

 

He had the pleasure of seeing her blush just a tiny bit, but he had to admire her self control.

 

“Er....that is a website for members only – you shouldn't be able to...I mean..”, she tried to say and then she took a deep breath, “That site is for members only, Sir. And you would need a member to give you an introduction.”

 

Tony nodded, “I understand that – and I appreciate your level of security – even if that on your internet page could be a bit better. I didn't take me long to enter your site. But – I mean – your new members do have to come from somewhere. Isn't there a way to become a member and buy some of your very nice items, without being introduced?”

 

She shook her head, “I am sorry, Sir, but is has to do with our security policy. We would have to be absolutely 100% sure that people being members here, are the persons, they say they are. I.D.s can be falsified.”

 

Tony nodded, “I understand. But what if a famous person came in here and wanted a membership? Would that be possible without introduction?”

 

She hesitated, “Maybe.....if we could be 100% sure, but.....”

 

“So lets say – if Tony Stark came in here? It would not be a problem for him?”

 

She smiled, “No – he is famous enough.”

 

Tony smiled back and took of his sun-glasses, “Well. I AM Tony Stark and I still would very much like to be a member.”

 

She laughed, “That was a good one, Sir. You do actually look a bit like him. But I am afraid that that is not enough.”

 

Tony sighed, “Would you please call the manager? I am Tony Stark and I intend to show that I am me. I know that Charlie Chaplin became number 3 in a look-a-like-competition as 'Charlie Chaplin' and I know there is an actor in Hollywood – he played 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'Charlie Chaplin' amongst other things – who looks a bit like me. But I doubt that any look-a-like would go to the length of having his sternum penetrated and filled with a housing. So..”

 

At that point the manager, a lady in her late 40ties, turned up, “Any problems, Sir?”

 

The young lady pointed at Tony and said, “He claims to be Tony Stark and wanted to show me something to prove it and...”

 

Tony took a step backwards, “The things I do for you, Stephen..” he mumbled as he tapped on the housing and the Nanites began to cover his body. He did leave his face free of the mask, and said “I doubt that any imposter would have his sternum destroyed and the things in his chest moved a bit around, to become Ironman.”

 

Both ladies looked at him and after a few seconds, the manager pulled herself together and said, “My deepest and most sincerely apologies are offered, Mr. Stark.”

 

And the young woman stuttered, “I am so sorry I didn't recognize you, Mr. Stark.”

 

Tony smiled and made the Nanites return to the housing, “Understandable – I sometimes don’t even recognize myself in the bathroom mirror in the morning.”

 

The manager pointed at the door behind the desk and said, “This way, Mr. Stark? We will do our utmost to satisfy your wishes.”

 


	11. Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony does some shopping. Items for him and Stephen.

As Tony ascended the stairs, he could see some mannequins – both male and female – in various states of – well one could hardly call it 'undressed' or 'dressed' and Tony recalled a quote from a film, “This is a very nice dress that you are almost not wearing.” - because those mannequins did wear something, that made them look even more naked than if they had had nothing on. Tony could easily imagine Stephen in some of the more masculine versions – but bras for men? A bit weird.

 

And then Tony wondered how many of those business men he had met over the years who had actually worn something like that under their very conservative suits? Bras? Sheer stockings and garters with lace? Not to mention that gold plated buttplug with matching cuff-links with the LILAH-logo, he had seen on the homepage.

 

Upstairs was a very big room. Mostly in a grey colour with a bit of black and white – and a few 'splashes' of not red – not orange – but the colour in between – a very rich and deep 'coral' – a picture-frame here – a bouquet of roses there - a throw-pillow in one of the grey chesterfield sofas and one of the glass-cabinets displaying some of the things, the shop could offer.

 

“Hm – nice..” said Tony as he looked around at the furniture and the room, “I like those splashes of 'coral'-looks nice!”

The manager – her name-tag said: 'Madame Honoré' – and again Tony wondered if it was her real name – or a sort of 'stage name' – she smiled and said, “Impressive!”

 

Tony laughed, “That I do not run on a 16-bit colour-screen? And know the difference between 'red' and 'orange' and 'coral'?”

 

He shook his head, “I suppose it has something to do with the need of knowing the different colours. Men do not need that knowledge – they do not need to buy that many lipsticks or that much nail-polish. I need to know, because I build electrical circuits. And components are colour-coded – so I would have to know the subtle differences.”

 

She smiled back and nodded and said, “Please sit down.” as she pointed at a nice set of char-coal-coloured Chesterfield-sofas and continued, “Can I offer you something, Mr. Stark? Coffee? Tea? Soft drinks? Alcoholic drinks?”

 

He smiled as he sat down, “It is 'Tony', if you don't mind and what if I said, _“Goat milk from Tibet, please?”...”_

 

She laughed, “This is New York. You can get almost everything. But Tibet...hm...I think it would be Yak-milk, though.”

 

“Coffee would be fine, thank you. Just black – no sugar.”

 

She went to a very discrete intercom and pressed a button, “Two Café Noir – with some of those Swiss chocolate, please.”

 

Then she took a tablet and a remote control and turned on the big screen, that Tony now realised wasn't a painting, but a large screen.

 

Then she sat down beside him and asked, “And how can our company help you?”

 

Tony smiled at her and said, “I am afraid that I will have to offer you some help first. If you intended to make your homepage available for members only, you have failed. I didn't even notice that I had to be a member. I admit that my AI is rather good at getting access. But to me it seems that your security 'wall' is as thin as paper. I would like to offer that one of my technicians could come over later today and give your security level a look-over?” Then he paused and smiled, “For free – I would very much like to participate in the security of a place I want to be a member of.”

 

She hesitated for a moment and then she said, “Thank you – But I think we would like to pay for your services – otherwise you might ask for too much of a discount on the things you might buy here today.” and then she winked.

 

Tony laughed, “Deal -I'll give you just as much discount as you will give me – like that we are even.”

 

She smiled back and then she took the remote control from and turned on the screen, which previously had been a painting. Tony nodded and smiled and mumbled, “Impressive.” - and continued, “There is something I have to tell you first, madame – why I am here and searching for such – specific items – for my male lover.”

 

Tony watched her, but she didn't even lift an eyebrow and Tony continued, “I am happily married – to Pepper – and an expecting father. And not so long ago my wife confessed that she was almost asexual, even if she didn't mind the sex with me, it was something that she didn't crave. Not an urge she had.”

 

Tony paused and then he continued, “And then she sent me back into the arms of the man, I had left, because both he and I thought it was the right thing to do - leave eachother and make me return to my fiancée.”

 

Tony paused again and Madame Honoré just nodded, but didn't say anything and Tony sighed and continued, “This..this is a bit difficult. We are – the three of us – living in a 'marriage a trois'....weird, but it works. Even if I feel a bit as if I am cheating when I kiss my wife – or when I kiss him...”

 

Tony looked at Madame Honoré and she understood that he wanted her to say something, so she did, “Mr Stark – Tony. That constellation is most certainly not uncommon. It is just that our society do not approve of it. There are several marriages like that – here in New York and other places. People are just very discrete about it. And you wouldn't find anything in the tabloids originated from our company. Everything said and wished for inside this shop, will never leave. Apart from the items bought, of course.”

 

Tony nodded and continued, “I don't know if I should say anything about this at all – but he and I was in a.....place – and in a situation, where we didn't know if we would survive the next day – nor to say the next hour. We were isolated – the only two living human beings in that place (and he thought to himself, “I am not lying. Nebula is not a human being.”)...and we reached out for eachother and sought comfort. And....”

 

Tony stopped and looked at Madame Honoré, “....in short: we became lovers and...”

 

She lifted a hand and interrupted, “.....and maybe I shouldn't say anything either. But....this event, your are talking about – why do I have a feeling, that I share with a lot of other people – that we all have to be immensely grateful for something you, the Avengers – and some other amazing people – did? Something that has everything to do with those weird dreams, that a lot of us share? Dreams about aeroplanes falling from the sky and cars crashing and people turning to dust in front of our eyes? We are a lot of people, who share a feeling of immense gratitude – a feeling of all of us sharing some vague memories of something that almost happened and which was a total catastrophe. So no matter what you are trying to explain and excuse – just know that none of it is necessary in any way, Mr. Stark – Tony.”

 

Tony took a deep breath and continued with a smirk, “You are not supposed to remember anything...”

 

She smiled back, “But maybe – someone – didn't totally understand how a human mind works?”

 

Tony smiled back and continued, “Well – I am not going to give anything away. I am not going to tell you anything – whether what you dreamed had a tiny core of truth in it or not. Shouldn't we just leave it there? And go on with what I wanted to buy?”

 

“Of course, Mr. Stark – Tony.”

 

“Well – this is apparently a time for confessions. Yesterday my lover confessed something too. And his confessions brought me here. He had been injured – at a time – and wasn't in a sexual relationship – and couldn't...help himself because of his injuries. Then he remembered something he had toyed with in his youth and used it as a way to cope with pain from his injuries.”

 

Tony stopped and looked at Madame Honoré, “He took up enjoying pain as a way to sexual release. Not much. Nothing severe. Most of all 'intense sensations'. Butt-plugs and nipple-clamps. And devices for masturbation, since he couldn't use his hands properly.”

 

She nodded and Tony continued with a smirk, “Do you know anything about 'Dr Young rectal dilators'...”?

 

She began to giggle, “Oh...I am so sorry, Tony, but the story behind Dr Young's dilators – it is just so funny.”

 

And she clicked the remote and a set of mentioned dilators was to be seen on the screen.

 

“No – not that set. The newer version – of metal. He played with temperature as well..”, explained Tony with a smile on his lips, because – honestly – the story about those dilators was funny.

 

And as Tony told about the items in Stephen's box, Madame Honoré found pictures of the items and they discussed about newer versions: butt-plugs in glass, and made of silicone with vibrators inside; and remote-controls. About 'flesh-lights' – transparent too and with various linings for different sensations. About nipple-clamps and right there Madame Honoré wanted to know if Tony's lover was pierced in his nipples?

 

“Because...”, she explained, “If you lover is into the more extreme sensations – if he is a masochist – he might enjoy the extra sensation of having the nipple-clamps yanked off. Enough to make him 'tumble over the brink' and experience an intense orgasm – but it that case it wouldn't do if on of the small teeth of the clamps would get caught in the tissue.”

 

Tony just looked at her and then he shook his head. He had just had a very vivid picture in his head of Stephen's nipples stretched around a piercing, “No...he is not. But what if he was?”

 

“Then we would choose some other nipple-clamps, for him to use.”

 

And Tony ordered some sets of those too. Because he realised that he would very much like to see Stephen with pierced nipples – but only if Stephen was up to it - of course. And it wouldn't be a problem now – with their healing abilities.

 

Tony ordered two sets of those butt-plugs with matching cuff-links too. In platinum and in gold. He told madame Honoré that he liked the provocation of it and then he hesitated, “My lover had floggers in his old box too. And I am not sure about those. He told me that they just left welts – but that is still tissue-damage and...”

 

Madame Honoré had clicked on the remote and pictures emerged on the screen. Pictures of floggers and whips and she explained, “The real and 'heavy' BDSM stuff is in our sister-shop on another address. But we have the 'softer' versions here. These might look severe – but they would at the most give some redness . These are more about sound and vision.”

 

And Tony bought some of these too. They talked a bit more about other items that Tony had noticed and found newer versions and finally they discussed how Tony would have his parcels delivered. It turned out that the shop had a very discrete deliver-service and as they discussed about the technician coming to help the shop with the security, Tony discovered that it would be time for his lunch-date with Pepper.

 

Tony smiled as he left the shop and reached out his hand, “I think I will return in a few hours instead of sending one of my technicians. I would rather do it myself.”

 

And then he left and called Pepper to hear where they should meet, since she hadn't called him first. So lunch it was and some help to Madame Honoré and hopefully Stephen would return this afternoon or evening. Tony couldn't help smiling, thinking about what Stephen would say to the newer versions of his 'toys'.

 


End file.
